In cramped, sweaty Hong Kong, climate change is making things worse for the poorest

2 comments

1. [On a sweltering summer afternoon in Hong Kong](https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/15/asia/hong-kong-cage-homes-climate-intl-hnk-dst?utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit), Yeung Fong-yan’s flat felt like an oven. Her air conditioner ran at full blast, but the tiny, tin-roofed room still baked in the heat, with a thermometer inside reading 36°C (96.8°F).

   “Sometimes it’s so hot we can’t even sleep,” Yeung said, seated on the small bed that doubles as her couch, dining table and sleeping quarters. Her 13-year-old grandson had just returned home from school, exhausted and drenched in sweat after climbing nine floors to reach their apartment.

   The two live together in a rooftop structure, on an elevator-less building in the crowded district of Sham Shui Po. Like many low-income families in the neighborhood, they’ve been pushed into makeshift housing by soaring rents and a chronic shortage of public homes in a city that is, on paper at least, one of the world’s wealthiest.

   During summer, the thin walls offer no insulation, the cracked roof leaks under heavy rain, and the heat turns the space into a furnace. With heavy humidity, Hong Kong’s subtropical climate makes already hot days feel even more intense.

   In recent months, Hong Kong has been hit with relentless heat warnings. Yet tens of thousands of residents remain sardined into homes smaller than a parking space, where staying cool is a luxury few can afford as the climate warms.

2. Heat deaths are on the verge of going exponential I imagine. It is truly sad.

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