Understanding individual heat exposure through interdisciplinary research on thermoception

Extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change, and urban environments intensify their effects. Older adults (65+) are at particular risk due to health, physiological and socio-economic factors. However, there is limited knowledge about their lived experiences of summer heat, actual heat exposure, and how they negotiate thermal comfort via adaptation practices. Conventional research gives little attention to individual behavior and subjective experiences. To understand how older adults feel heat in the city, this article studies thermoception—conceptualized as embodied knowledge about bodily sensations, thermal environments, and adjustments to heat. Drawing on interdisciplinary research in Warsaw and Madrid during summers 2021–2022, the study combines ethnographic data with indoor temperature measurements to show, at a microscale, how to holistically study diversity in individual heat exposure. The article demonstrates that similar weather conditions are experienced differently depending on dwelling materiality, access to cooling devices, everyday habits, and individual bodies. It discusses social, material, and temporal adjustments participants made to deal with heat, highlighting their agency and emphasizing the role of social sciences and qualitative methods, and arguing for co-production of knowledge on individual heat exposure.

Paloma Yáñez Serrano, Zofia Bieńkowska, Zofia Boni, Franciszek Chwałczyk, Amirhossein Hassani