COMMON SHADE: home, the map of extreme heat
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Watch Common Shade grow

See what we are learning, what is changing, and how it connects to protection from extreme heat.

37 changes recorded since 23 October 2026: 5 corrections or revised interpretations, 3 connections documented and 3 questions opened. Beneath them, 1,084 works the commons draws on carry a publication date, and 807 are still being dated.

This is a record of how the knowledge on Common Shade changes. Growth here means more is known and connected; it never means people protected, partnerships formed or impact delivered.

Updates, newest first

Tool improved · Practical measures

A page for the AI agents that read the site

· Page added 11 November 2026

Why it matters our readingMore people now meet the site through an assistant than through a browser. /for-ai/ tells an assistant what Common Shade is, when it fits a person's question, how to cite it and what to avoid, and publishes the same record as JSON and plain text, so an assistant can represent the evidence as carefully as the site states it.

  • South and Southeast Asia

ReviewWritten only from standards the site already publishes; every count is calculated at build time; every endpoint it lists is checked to exist; it asks nothing of an assistant that conflicts with its user's wishes.

How it connects
  • Approach Page · our reading
    The evidence labels and standards the page asks an assistant to pass on are explained there.
  • Cite Page · our reading
    How to cite the site, and where the open data is, is set out there.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Evidence added · Institutions and plans

Are heat plans budgeted, or only hoped for?

· Reading pass across six heat plans and reviews November 2026

Why it matters our readingAfter Bangkok's strategy found money to build but not always to run, a reading of heat plans from India and Bangladesh showed a nearby pattern: costs and potential funders are named, but budgets that recur each season rarely are. Each claim was written from passages checked on GitHub.

What the source says quoted

“only two cited specific sources of finance for any of their actions”

Centre for Policy Research: Finding the Finance, a guide to identifying centrally sponsored schemes to fund heat resilience (opens in a new tab) 
  • India
  • Bangladesh
  • Dedicated heat budgets
  • Cooling centres and check-ins

ReviewClaims written only from checked passages; all four confirmed; two documents left out with reasons. 6 checked · 6 confirmed.

What it took to add this
  1. The question. Does Bangkok's running-cost gap appear in other heat plans in the region?
  2. The search. 6 sources were gathered for checking.
  3. The checking. Each source was opened and read for the terms and numbers it was cited for: 6 confirmed.
  4. What we set aside. 0 items that rested on what could not be confirmed were set aside, regraded or reworded, each with its reason.
  5. What is still open. Whether any city in the region budgets the running costs of its heat plan every season.

See for yourself: the check results · what was set aside, and why

How it connects
  • Dedicated heat budgets Action · from the site's records
    Few plans name where the money comes from, which is what a dedicated heat budget would fix.
  • Cooling centres and check-ins Action · from the site's records
    Narayanganj counts daily users of its cooling centres.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Tool improved · Practical measures

A planning question for heatwaves longer than any on record

· Workbook prompt November 2026

Why it matters our readingPlans and budgets are usually sized to the worst heatwave people remember, and new modelling suggests some future heatwaves will run longer. The workbook now asks whether the money and staff would last.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Heat action plans
  • Dedicated heat budgets

ReviewA question for planners, not a factual claim; the study behind it waits for an independent source check before its figures reach the site.

How it connects

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Tool improved · Institutions and plans

Signals: which way heat policy is moving

· COP31 opens in Antalya 9 November 2026

Why it matters our readingAnnouncements are the earliest sign of where heat policy is heading, but on their own they are weak evidence. Signals places each one on a ladder from announced to evaluated, starting with COP31 and this year's signals already on the site, so readers can weigh them rather than collect them.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • India
  • Bangladesh
  • Thailand
  • Singapore
  • Indonesia
  • Heat action plans
  • Dedicated heat budgets

ReviewCOP31 facts checked on GitHub against the UNFCCC's own pages; one claim set aside (Beat the Heat, whose pages blocked the check) and one not used (a presidency claim the page did not confirm); the year's signals reuse sources the site had already checked.

How it connects
  • Dedicated heat budgets Action · our reading
    Several signals are promises of money; the ladder shows which have been funded.
  • Heat action plans Action · our reading
    Most signals touch heat action plans: adopted, funded or delivered.
Read the signals

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Evidence added · Evidence

COP31 opens: the climate behind this year's heat

· WMO State of the Climate Update 2026 9 November 2026

Why it matters our readingAs COP31 opened, WMO reported that 2026 will be one of the four warmest years on record and that El Niño is set to bring more heat into 2027, while UNEP's Emissions Gap Report found that warming will overshoot 1.5 °C. Each was verified at its primary source before joining the COP31 watch on Signals.

What the source says quoted

“The global average surface temperature for January to September 2026 was about 1.47 °C above the pre-industrial average”

WMO, 2026: State of the climate in 2026 gives new meaning to phrase 'off the charts' (opens in a new tab) 
  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Anticipatory action
  • Heat action plans

ReviewFirst read in a press report; every claim verified on GitHub at WMO, PBL (UNEP's co-author) and AFP; items about floods and electrification left out as not about heat. 7 checked · 5 confirmed · 2 not confirmed, each recorded.

What it took to add this
  1. The question. What did the opening of COP31 say about heat, confirmed at the source?
  2. The search. 7 sources were gathered for checking.
  3. The checking. Each source was opened and read for the terms and numbers it was cited for: 5 confirmed, and 2 could not be (1 blocked automated reading, 1 did not respond).
  4. What we set aside. 0 items that rested on what could not be confirmed were set aside, regraded or reworded, each with its reason.
  5. What is still open. How heat appears in COP31's final decisions.

See for yourself: the check results · what was set aside, and why

How it connects
  • Anticipatory action Action · from the site's records
    A strong El Niño into 2027 is a forecast that early action can use.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Evidence added · Institutions and plans

What Bangkok's heat plan costs, and what stands between plans and money

· Financing strategy published October 2026

Why it matters our readingBangkok's 2026 financing strategy, from UNDP and the city, costs the city's heat plan and explains why running costs, not ambition, are the gap. Each insight was tied to the strategy's own words and checked on GitHub before it reached the site, and the city page now credits the heat plan to the city itself.

What the source says quoted

“Bangkok reported that money to build is generally available but running costs are not always covered”

UNDP and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration: Bangkok's financing strategy for tackling urban heat, 2026 (opens in a new tab) 
  • Thailand
  • Older people
  • People in informal settlements
  • Dedicated heat budgets
  • Cooling centres and check-ins

ReviewEvery claim checked against the strategy on GitHub; all 13 confirmed. 3 checked · 2 confirmed · 1 not confirmed, each recorded.

What it took to add this
  1. The question. What does Bangkok's financing strategy add to what the site says about Bangkok and Thailand, and where else does it help?
  2. The search. 3 sources were gathered for checking.
  3. The checking. Each source was opened and read for the terms and numbers it was cited for: 2 confirmed, and 1 could not be (1 blocked automated reading).
  4. What we set aside. 0 items that rested on what could not be confirmed were set aside, regraded or reworded, each with its reason.
  5. What is still open. Whether spending tagged as climate spending will show what a city spends before heatwaves.

See for yourself: the check results · what was set aside, and why

How it connects
  • Dedicated heat budgets Action · from the site's records
    A costed heat plan and proposed climate budgeting add a Bangkok example to dedicated heat budgets.
  • Cooling centres and check-ins Action · from the site's records
    Running costs join the watch-outs for cooling centres.
  • Older people People at risk · from the site's records
    Consultation participants said heat response may not reach older and bedridden people in metal-roofed homes.

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Evidence added · Evidence

How heat became visible: a graded timeline of when the world began to notice

· Events 1833 to 2026

Why it matters our readingKnowing when science, health, labour, finance and the UN each noticed heat shows who was still missing. Each event carries a grade, so certainty is never overstated.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Migrants, prisoners and other excluded groups
  • The invisible-deaths loop

ReviewEvery source checked; uncertain events graded, unconfirmed ones dropped and listed. 64 checked · 53 confirmed · 11 not confirmed, each recorded.

What it took to add this
  1. The question. When did science, health, labour, finance and the UN begin to notice extreme heat, and who was still missing?
  2. The search. 64 sources were gathered for checking.
  3. The checking. Each source was opened and read for the terms and numbers it was cited for: 53 confirmed, and 11 could not be (8 blocked automated reading, 3 did not show the expected text).
  4. What we set aside. 16 items that rested on what could not be confirmed were set aside, regraded or reworded, each with its reason.
  5. What is still open. Several early events stay graded uncertain because their sources could not be read.

See for yourself: the check results · what was set aside, and why

How it connects
  • The invisible-deaths loop Vicious cycle · our reading
    The timeline traces how heat moved out of the cycle that kept it invisible.
Read the timeline

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Correction published · Practical measures

Correction: what cooling centres and fans can and cannot do

· Correction published 7 November 2026

Why it matters our readingReaders plan real protection from these pages. Saying what the evidence supports, and what it depends on, keeps a plan from resting on more than the evidence holds.

What the source says quoted

“Two actions said more than the evidence shows: that public cooling spaces and check-ins save lives in every heatwave, and that efficient fans put safe cooling within reach of every household.”

Corrections
  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Older people
  • Cooling centres and check-ins
  • Affordable cooling for the poorest

ReviewPublished on /corrections/, with an apology.

How it connects
Read the correction Actions

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Evidence added · Evidence

Lenses on what the map was missing

· Studies published: dates vary; each source shows its own

Why it matters our readingThe map now separates more of the people it had grouped together, adds slow and hidden harms and compound events, and shows where places differ. Each addition passed a number-by-number audit against its source.

What the source says quoted

“Timor-Leste's 2026 WHO climate and health profile lists heat-related deaths and illness as not specified: an empty field, not a zero.”

WHO, 2026: climate change country profile, Timor-Leste (opens in a new tab) 
  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Women whose livelihoods are held back by unequal access
  • Older people
  • People with disabilities or long-term illness
  • Migrants, prisoners and other excluded groups
  • The invisible-deaths loop
  • Count every heat death

ReviewEvery number audited against its source; unconfirmed sources refused. 71 checked · 55 confirmed · 16 not confirmed, each recorded.

What it took to add this
  1. The question. What does the map miss: which people, harms, compound events and places does it not yet separate?
  2. The search. 71 sources were gathered for checking.
  3. The checking. Each source was opened and read for the terms and numbers it was cited for: 55 confirmed, and 16 could not be (11 blocked automated reading, 5 did not show the expected text).
  4. What we set aside. 12 items that rested on what could not be confirmed were set aside, regraded or reworded, each with its reason.
  5. What is still open. Each lens opened research questions on the learning agenda.

See for yourself: the check results · what was set aside, and why

How it connects
Read the evidence The map

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Interpretation revised · Practical measures

Watch for: documented side effects of actions that otherwise help

· Studies published: dates vary; each source shows its own

Why it matters our readingAn action can help one group and burden another. Showing documented side effects next to each action is a revised reading of what helps, not a reason to stop.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Smallholder and rainfed farming households
  • Cool, affordable housing
  • Smart irrigation and groundwater rules
  • Cooling centres and check-ins
  • Affordable cooling for the poorest

ReviewEach side effect carries its sources.

How it connects
  • Cool, affordable housing Action · from the site's records
    Most roof treatments lowered indoor heat in one study, but one coating left rooms hotter; the action now says so.
  • Smart irrigation and groundwater rules Action · from the site's records
    Watering fields can raise the humid heat farmworkers feel; the action now carries that watch-out.
See what to watch for

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Evidence added · Practical measures

Who could help a household through a hot season, country by country

· Scheme status as of November 2026

Why it matters our readingPublic schemes could cushion lost work and care costs in a hot season. Setting out who runs each, what it gives and how far people get through the steps of access shows where support stops.

What the source says quoted

“2023, before informal-sector launch: 9 percent knew of SSF.”

World Bank, 2025: De Jure and De Facto Coverage of Parental Benefits in Nepal (opens in a new tab) 
  • Bangladesh
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Nepal
  • Singapore
  • Thailand
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Older people
  • People with disabilities or long-term illness
  • Smallholder and rainfed farming households
  • Social protection floors
  • Free care for heat illness
  • The poverty–heat trap

ReviewEvery source checked; what could not be confirmed set aside and listed. 131 checked · 98 confirmed · 33 not confirmed, each recorded.

What it took to add this
  1. The question. Which public schemes could carry a household through a hot season, in each country researched?
  2. The search. 131 sources were gathered for checking.
  3. The checking. Each source was opened and read for the terms and numbers it was cited for: 98 confirmed, and 33 could not be (16 blocked automated reading, 14 did not respond, 3 did not show the expected text).
  4. What we set aside. 101 items that rested on what could not be confirmed were set aside, regraded or reworded, each with its reason.
  5. What is still open. Questions remain for every step of access nobody has measured.

See for yourself: the check results · what was set aside, and why

How it connects
  • Social protection floors Action · from the site's records
    The schemes are the social protection floors the lever describes, country by country.
  • The poverty–heat trap Vicious cycle · our reading
    Support that arrives in time can keep a hot season from pushing a household into the poverty cycle.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Tool improved · Evidence

The news page now shows what became of each paper and headline

· Papers and headlines listed since October 2026

Why it matters our readingCoverage and checked evidence are easy to confuse. Every paper on the news page now goes through the weekly evidence review, and each item shows whether it is on the Evidence map, in review, set aside or still waiting.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • The invisible-deaths loop

ReviewPapers reach the map only after a reviewer accepts them; headlines are traced to their primary source first.

How it connects
  • Evidence map Page · from the site's records
    Accepted papers join their cycles on the Evidence map.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Tool improved · Evidence

Every open question now carries its own dated history

· Questions opened 31 October 2026

Why it matters our readingA question that moves is easier to trust than one that simply changes. Each step now shows when it happened, what moved it and which records did, and advanced is never shown as answered.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • The overwhelmed-clinic loop
  • The invisible-deaths loop

ReviewOpening dates taken from the repository history; later steps are checked against their records.

How it connects
  • Evidence map Page · from the site's records
    The evidence map shows each question with its history.
See the open questions

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Question opened · Practical measures

Questions opened for every step of access nobody has measured (12 questions)

· Gaps found in the checked findings November 2026

Why it matters our readingMany steps between a scheme on paper and support in hand are unmeasured, especially whether support is adequate and on time. Each gap now carries a question and a study that could answer it.

  • Bangladesh
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Nepal
  • Singapore
  • Thailand
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Older people
  • Social protection floors

ReviewEach question restates only what the checked findings measure; designs are our suggestions.

How it connects
  • Social protection floors Action · from the site's records
    The questions ask whether social protection reaches households in time and in full.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Evidence added · Institutions and plans

How Singapore organises for heat, traced to its own sources

· Country brief published June 2026

Why it matters our readingA country brief from the Southeast Asia heat-health hub described the coordination, triggers and research money behind Singapore's heat rules. Each insight was traced to the government or published source behind it, and only what those sources confirm reached the site.

What the source says quoted

“Since March 2025 a heatwave is declared when the daily maximum reaches at least 35 °C and the daily mean at least 29 °C for three days in a row”

Malay Mail: Singapore's heatwave response plan, 2025 (opens in a new tab) 
  • Singapore
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Older people
  • Heat-safe work
  • Heat action plans

ReviewEvery claim checked against its source on GitHub; four that could not be confirmed were set aside and listed. 20 checked · 17 confirmed · 3 not confirmed, each recorded.

What it took to add this
  1. The question. Which insights in Singapore's heat resilience brief can be confirmed from primary sources, and where on the site do they help?
  2. The search. 20 sources were gathered for checking.
  3. The checking. Each source was opened and read for the terms and numbers it was cited for: 17 confirmed, and 3 could not be (2 blocked automated reading, 1 did not show the expected text).
  4. What we set aside. 17 items that rested on what could not be confirmed were set aside, regraded or reworded, each with its reason.
  5. What is still open. How many heat illnesses Singapore's clinics see is still being studied.

See for yourself: the check results · what was set aside, and why

How it connects
  • Heat-safe work Action · from the site's records
    The 2024 revision of the outdoor work rules updates the lever's Singapore example.
  • Heat action plans Action · from the site's records
    A clear heatwave trigger tied to measures for each sector is what a heat action plan sets out.
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs People at risk · from the site's records
    Delivery riders, newly described on the workers' profile, have little room to stop in the heat.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Correction published · Evidence

A rule on paper is no longer read as a result

· Method corrected November 2026

Why it matters our readingThe method grouped official records with measured findings as known. An official record can show that a rule or scheme exists; whether it was carried out or worked takes an evaluation, and the method now says so.

  • South and Southeast Asia

ReviewPrompted by an outside review of the site; menu counts now read from each page's own data.

How it connects
  • Sources Page · from the site's records
    Every claim's source is listed with its kind.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Connection documented · Practical measures

Every harm paired with hope: the nearest places to act, or an honest gap

· Mapping reviewed November 2026

Why it matters our readingA harm without a way forward can leave a reader stuck. Each harm now points to the actions closest to it, or says plainly that none is documented yet.

  • South and Southeast Asia

ReviewBuilt from the map's own links between harms and actions.

How it connects
  • The map Page · from the site's records
    The pairing uses the links already on the map.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Plan or guidance added · Institutions and plans

India's Heat Resilient Cities Framework (2026), across the site

· Framework published 2026

Why it matters our readingThe framework moves cities from emergency response towards lasting change, with the people most exposed at the centre. It now informs the glossary, the planning checklist and the cities it names.

What the source says quoted

“A city that moves beyond emergency response each hot season towards lasting change in its buildings, water, transport, work, health services and cooling, with the people most exposed to heat at the centre.”

NIUA Climate Centre for Cities, 2026 (opens in a new tab) 
  • India
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Women whose livelihoods are held back by unequal access
  • Heat action plans
  • Dedicated heat budgets

ReviewCited from the publisher's own page.

How it connects
  • Heat action plans Action · from the site's records
    The framework extends what a heat action plan covers.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Plan or guidance added · Institutions and plans

India heat action plan archive: verified plans and guidance from across India

· Plans published 2016 to 2026

Why it matters our readingPlans are easier to learn from side by side. Each one is verified, typed and dated as printed, so a city can find a neighbour's plan and see how it changed.

  • India
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Older people
  • Heat action plans

ReviewEvery plan verified; leads never counted as verified. 240 checked · 146 confirmed · 94 not confirmed, each recorded.

What it took to add this
  1. The question. Which heat action plans and guidance has India published, at every level of government?
  2. The search. 240 documents and leads were screened.
  3. The checking. 146 plans and guidance documents were verified one by one, each typed and dated as printed; 94 leads are kept apart and never counted as verified.
  4. What is still open. Unverified leads remain, and plan scoring against the rubric is planned.

See for yourself: how the archive was verified

How it connects
  • Heat action plans Action · from the site's records
    The archive gathers the plans the heat action plan lever describes.
Search the plans

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Evidence added · Evidence

Heat and the health of mothers, children and minds

· Studies published: dates vary; each source shows its own

Why it matters our readingPregnancy, newborn health, mental health and gender-based violence were thin on the map. Adding them, with an evidence brief, makes these harms visible next to the better-known ones.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Pregnant women, babies and young children
  • Women whose livelihoods are held back by unequal access
  • Heat-safe pregnancy and newborn care
  • Mental health in heat plans

ReviewSources checked, with Europe PMC for publisher pages that block automated reading. 17 checked · 13 confirmed · 4 not confirmed, each recorded.

What it took to add this
  1. The question. What does the evidence say about heat and maternal, newborn, child and mental health in the region?
  2. The search. 17 candidate sources were gathered.
  3. The checking. Each was opened and read for its expected terms: 13 answered directly, and 4 blocked automated reading, so their text was confirmed through Europe PMC records where one exists.
  4. What is still open. The learning agenda carries the questions this evidence leaves open.

See for yourself: the check results

How it connects
Read the evidence brief

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Tool improved · Evidence

A weekly evidence review, signed off by a person

· Studies harvested weekly

Why it matters our readingNew studies arrive every week. A Monday harvest opens a review, and only studies a person accepts join their cycles, so the map grows without lowering its bar.

  • South and Southeast Asia

ReviewEach study accepted by a person before it joins the map.

How it connects
  • Evidence map Page · from the site's records
    Accepted studies join their cycles on the evidence map.
See the evidence map

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Evidence added · Evidence

How heat is reported: a bibliography of coverage in many languages

· Articles published 2018 to 2026

Why it matters our readingCoverage shapes what decision-makers notice. Reading it together shows which harms and places get attention and which stay quiet, without judging any outlet.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Migrants, prisoners and other excluded groups
  • The invisible-deaths loop

ReviewEvery link checked; journalist names removed; unverified links held back.

How it connects
  • The invisible-deaths loop Vicious cycle · our reading
    Harms that coverage misses are part of the cycle that keeps heat invisible.
Read the coverage review

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Correction published · Institutions and plans

Correction: the site stopped telling people what to do

· Correction published 31 October 2026

Why it matters our readingThe people closest to the heat know their places best. Describing what helps, and what it depends on, keeps the site a place to learn alongside them.

What the source says quoted

“Many pages spoke in an instructing voice, telling cities, employers, funders and others what to do.”

Corrections
  • South and Southeast Asia

ReviewPublished on /corrections/, with an apology; a check keeps it from returning.

How it connects
  • Corrections Page · from the site's records
    Every correction is listed with what changed and why.
Read the correction

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Interpretation revised · Institutions and plans

Describing what we could see, never what someone did not do

· Wording revised across the site 31 October 2026

Why it matters our readingA gap in a record is not proof that nothing happened. The site now says what it could find and where it looked, so an absence reads as a question rather than a judgement.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • The invisible-deaths loop

ReviewEditorial revision, enforced by the voice check.

How it connects
  • Approach Page · our reading
    The approach page explains how the site words what it cannot confirm.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Question opened · Evidence

A learning agenda: the questions the evidence has not yet answered (42 questions)

· Questions drawn from the limits studies state: dates vary; each source shows its own

Why it matters our readingNaming what nobody knows yet is as useful as summarising what is known. Each question sits beside the cycle it belongs to, with a study that could answer it.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Older people
  • Pregnant women, babies and young children
  • The overwhelmed-clinic loop
  • The invisible-deaths loop

ReviewEach question restates limits its cited studies give themselves; designs are our suggestions.

How it connects
  • The overwhelmed-clinic loop Vicious cycle · from the site's records
    One question asks how much of the load on clinics in a heatwave is heat illness.
See the open questions

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Evidence added · Financing

Paying when heat strikes: insurance, pools, credit and forecast funds

· Instruments and payouts documented: dates vary; each source shows its own

Why it matters our readingWhether a payout arrived, and when, matters more than whether a product exists. This section follows what is documented about each instrument paying out.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Smallholder and rainfed farming households
  • Women whose livelihoods are held back by unequal access
  • Income protection in heatwaves
  • Shared risk pools
  • Anticipatory action

ReviewEvery link checked and archived. 256 checked · 216 confirmed · 40 not confirmed, each recorded.

What it took to add this
  1. The question. Which financial instruments pay out when heat strikes in Asia, and is there a record that they did?
  2. The search. 256 links were gathered.
  3. The checking. Each link was opened: 216 answered, 28 blocked automated reading, and 12 could not be reached.
  4. What is still open. For many instruments, no public record yet shows a payout reaching people.

See for yourself: the link check

How it connects
  • Anticipatory action Action · from the site's records
    Forecast-based funds are one of the instruments followed.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Evidence added · Institutions and plans

The first monthly update: new plans, a regional forum and funding, October 2026

· Events October 2026

Why it matters our readingThe first month run through every check showed the pipeline can hold back what it cannot confirm. Records that only a secondary report described stayed held.

What the source says quoted

“Nearly 600 scientists, business leaders, philanthropists and health experts met in Bangkok from 6 to 9 October 2026.”

ClimateWorks Foundation, 2026 (opens in a new tab) 
  • Bangladesh
  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Heat action plans

ReviewEvery source checked against its own text; unconfirmed records held. 5 checked · 5 confirmed.

What it took to add this
  1. The question. What changed for heat protection in South and Southeast Asia in October 2026?
  2. The search. 5 sources were gathered for checking.
  3. The checking. Each source was opened and read for the terms and numbers it was cited for: 5 confirmed.
  4. What we set aside. 2 records were held back because no first-hand source confirmed them.
  5. What is still open. How heat-health pilots keep their footing once funding ends.

See for yourself: the check results · the records held back

How it connects
  • Heat action plans Action · from the site's records
    Bangladesh's first urban heatwave action plan joins the plans on the Atlas.

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Question opened · Financing

Question opened: how do heat-health pilots keep their footing once funding ends?

· Raised by a funder's own account of the region October 2026

Why it matters our readingProtection that stops when a grant stops leaves people exposed again. Asking the question openly invites the people who have seen it happen to share what worked.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Dedicated heat budgets

ReviewKnowledge-base question record, checked with its source.

How it connects

Know something that would improve this? Share evidence, experience or a correction

Tool improved · Institutions and plans

Atlas of Asia's heat: heatwaves since 1998 and the plans that followed

· Heatwaves and plans dated by their sources 1998

Why it matters our readingPlacing heatwaves and the plans that came after them on one map shows how protection has followed experience, place by place.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Heat action plans

ReviewEach heatwave and milestone links to its source.

How it connects
  • Heat action plans Action · from the site's records
    Each milestone on the Atlas is a plan, rule, role or programme.
Open the Atlas

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Evidence added · Practical measures

A solutions library and country snapshots, from the October 2026 research

· Measures documented: dates vary; each source shows its own

Why it matters our readingPractical measures sit next to the places that use them, so a reader can see what exists before deciding what to try.

  • Bangladesh
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Nepal
  • Philippines
  • Sri Lanka
  • Thailand
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Smallholder and rainfed farming households
  • Cool by design
  • Affordable cooling for the poorest

ReviewEvery link checked; unreachable links left out. 1,114 checked · 914 confirmed · 200 not confirmed, each recorded.

What it took to add this
  1. The question. What practical measures against heat exist across South and Southeast Asia, and where?
  2. The search. 1,114 links were gathered.
  3. The checking. Each link was opened: 914 answered, 137 blocked automated reading, and 63 could not be reached.
  4. What is still open. Many measures have no published evaluation yet; the library says so where that is the case.

See for yourself: the link check

How it connects
  • Cool by design Action · from the site's records
    Cooling by design is among the measures the library documents.

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Connection documented · Practical measures

Solutions joined to the vicious cycle each one could break

· Mapping reviewed October 2026

Why it matters our readingA measure means more when you can see which cycle it interrupts. Each link here is a reviewed mapping, not a measured effect.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • The poverty–heat trap
  • The energy-poverty trap
  • The overwhelmed-clinic loop

ReviewEditorial mapping, reviewed.

How it connects
  • The energy-poverty trap Vicious cycle · from the site's records
    Measures such as protecting households from disconnection in a heatwave are mapped to the energy poverty cycle.
Explore this connection

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Connection documented · Institutions and plans

The heat network: who holds the need, who supplies, who connects

· Organisations described from their own pages: dates vary; each source shows its own

Why it matters our readingSeeing organisations as demand, supply or platform shows where a partner could come from, and where nobody yet connects the two.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Heat action plans
  • Heat-ready health services

ReviewEach organisation links to its own page; listing is not endorsement.

How it connects
  • Heat network Page · from the site's records
    Each organisation record names the actions it works on.

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Tool improved · Practical measures

Plan a response: a step-by-step workbook, with additions from MCR2030

· Guidance it draws on: dates vary; each source shows its own

Why it matters our readingA team can move from what the evidence says to a plan for its own place, step by step, in a workshop or alone. Its answers stay in the reader's browser.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Older people
  • Heat action plans

ReviewEach step links to its guidance.

How it connects
  • Heat action plans Action · from the site's records
    The workbook walks through what a heat action plan covers.
Open the planning tool

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Evidence added · Evidence

What each vicious cycle costs, with Southeast Asian figures

· Studies published: dates vary; each source shows its own

Why it matters our readingA cycle is easier to act on once its cost is visible. Each cost carries its own source, so a reader can check the figure before using it.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Smallholder and rainfed farming households
  • The poverty–heat trap
  • The medical-debt trap
  • The overwhelmed-clinic loop

ReviewEach figure links to its source.

How it connects
  • The poverty–heat trap Vicious cycle · from the site's records
    The costs follow the cycles on the map, one by one.

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Tool improved · Experience

A week in the heat: one worker's money through a heatwave

· Figures from sources: dates vary; each source shows its own

Why it matters our readingFollowing one illustrative household day by day shows how lost hours, medical bills and debt add up. It is a drawn example built from sourced figures, not one person's story.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • The poverty–heat trap
  • The medical-debt trap
  • Income protection in heatwaves

ReviewIllustrative; each figure links to its source.

How it connects
Follow the week

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Plan or guidance added · Financing

Paying for protection: routes, triggers, basis risk and cases

· Cases and guidance published: dates vary; each source shows its own

Why it matters our readingMoney that arrives before or during heat works differently from money after it. This guide sets out how each route pays, and where payouts can miss the people they were meant for.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Smallholder and rainfed farming households
  • Income protection in heatwaves
  • Shared risk pools
  • Heat-smart lending

ReviewEach case links to its source.

How it connects

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Tool improved · Evidence

Heat right now: live readings for Asian cities

· Readings: live

Why it matters our readingA reading of today's heat, with a forecast, puts the rest of the site in the present tense. It helps a reader connect what the evidence says to the heat outside.

  • South and Southeast Asia
  • Workers in heat-exposed jobs
  • Heat action plans
  • Anticipatory action

ReviewLive data from Open-Meteo and data.gov.sg; readings are not checked by hand.

How it connects
  • Anticipatory action Action · our reading
    Live readings and forecasts are where early action starts.
Open the live readings

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The canopy

Each mark above the surface is one change, on the branch of its root. Select one to light its own connections beneath the surface; everything else stays quiet. Only connections in the site's records, or reviewed by us, are drawn, and each is labelled which. Use the timeline to watch the roots grow with the work published in the last three years.

The canopy: changes to Common Shade above the surface, the work it draws on beneath Each mark in the canopy is one change, on the branch of its root. Beneath the surface, five roots carry the dated work the commons draws on: Evidence, 403 works; Experience, 70 works; Practical measures, 241 works; Institutions and plans, 139 works; Financing, 231 works. Selecting a change draws only its own connections. A metaphor for the knowledge commons, not a measure of protection. The shared aim: protection from extreme heat Above: what Common Shade added, from October 2026Below: the work it draws on, by year of publication Evidence 403Experience 70Practical measures 241Institutions and plans 139Financing 231 ApproachCiteDedicated heat budgetsCooling centres and check-insHeat action plansAnticipatory actionOlder peopleThe invisible-deaths loopAffordable cooling for the poorestCount every heat deathMigrants, prisoners and other excluded groupsCool, affordable housingSmart irrigation and groundwater rulesSocial protection floorsThe poverty–heat trapEvidence mapHeat-safe workWorkers in heat-exposed jobsSourcesThe mapHeat-safe pregnancy and newborn carePregnant women, babies and young childrenCorrectionsThe overwhelmed-clinic loopCool by designThe energy-poverty trapHeat networkIncome protection in heatwavesShared risk pools
  • Evidence, experience, plan or guidance
  • Tool improved
  • Connection documented
  • Correction or revised interpretation
  • Question opened or advanced
  • Connection from the site's records
  • Connection that is our reading

Select a change in the canopy, or choose "Show in the canopy" on any update.

How the work grew, year by year

Common Shade began gathering in October 2026. The work it draws on is much older, so this timeline dates each piece by when it was published, not when it was added. A date is shown only as precisely as its evidence allows: a record's own date, a date in its link, or the year in its label.

  1. Before 2024

    467 works published before 2024 form the roots the commons stands on.

    • Evidence202
    • Experience19
    • Practical measures99
    • Institutions and plans67
    • Financing80
  2. 2024

    194 works published, 94 of them with a known month; 661 in all by the end of the year. 25 of the verified Indian heat action plans carry this year.

    Steps toward protection this year: Nepal adopts a national plan of action on heat waves; Thane plans ward by ward; Tamil Nadu builds a state-wide heat network.

    • Evidence279
    • Experience38
    • Practical measures134
    • Institutions and plans93
    • Financing117
  3. 2025

    199 works published, 114 of them with a known month; 860 in all by the end of the year. 24 of the verified Indian heat action plans carry this year.

    Steps toward protection this year: Delhi launches its 2025 Heat Action Plan.

    • Evidence333
    • Experience54
    • Practical measures180
    • Institutions and plans121
    • Financing172
  4. 2026 so far

    224 works published, 128 of them with a known month; 1,084 in all by the end of the year. 13 of the verified Indian heat action plans carry this year.

    Steps toward protection this year: Bangkok opens 304 cooling centres; The first Global Heat Forum, in Bangkok; Bangladesh’s first urban heatwave action plan, for Narayanganj.

    • Evidence403
    • Experience70
    • Practical measures241
    • Institutions and plans139
    • Financing231

Not yet dated: 807 works whose records carry no date, and 18 known only to have been online by a certain date. 411 links to organisations are counted apart and never dated. History before October 2026 is reconstructed only from these publication dates; Common Shade's own record of changes begins on 23 October 2026.

What we've revised

Corrections and changed readings are part of how the commons learns. Each one says what changed and why.

Every correction, with an apology, is on Corrections.

Know something that would improve this?

Evidence, practical experience, a correction or a question nobody has answered: each one helps the commons grow. Contributing does not make anyone a formal partner, and everything shared is checked before it appears.

Share what you know Share a correction

How this record works

  • One record, growth.json, holds every change; both views and the text for AI systems are built from it. Each change traces to the pull request that made it.
  • "Why it matters" is our reading. "What the source says" is quoted from the source, and the build checks that the quotation appears in the site's own records.
  • A changed file is not progress by itself. Changes are reviewed by a person before they are recorded; nothing is counted twice because it appears on several pages.
  • Publication dates come from growth-dates.json, with how each date is known. Dates looked up online are from Crossref or the page's own metadata; an "online by" date is never shown as a publication date.

Inspired by Wystem.ai's approach to a living knowledge commons. Designed and implemented independently for Common Shade.

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