Melting Point

• Prize
  Gold in Portfolio/Personal
• Photographer
  Ed Kashi

In 2013, I arrived in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, once known as the Island of Widows, for an assignment to photograph how heat stress was devastating rural communities. I witnessed funerals for sugarcane workers every single day. Strenuous work in extreme heat without sufficient rest and hydration was leading to many workers getting sick and dying. This has only become more pervasive as our planet warms. Over the past decade, I have documented the deadly effect of heat on workers in Nicaragua, El Salvador, India, Peru and Sri Lanka, Nepal and Qatar.