This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: If being outside in the heat for even a few minutes felt miserable this summer, imagine what it's like for herders who are always out walking with their livestock and rarely get a break. "We have never experienced such hot days," a woman herder in northern Kenya told our research team in 2024.
"It is difficult to [do things] outside [with] the high temperatures." Her experience is echoed by herders in both the U.S. and Kenya, where we study health and climate. Our team's recent data from Kenya suggest that when drought and heat are particularly bad, herders suffer heat-related illness and symptoms of anxiety and depression. While fewer data are available about herders in the U.S., there is reason to worry about them as global temperatures rise.
In northern Kenya, herders spend much of their lives outdoors with their animals. During dry seasons, herders can move 100 miles (roughly 160 kilometers) with their livestock, sleeping under the stars or in makeshift shacks along the way. In the U.S., shepherds on the open range often live similar lives.
Most hold temporary visas and are paid by their employers to spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week with flocks of sheep. They often live in portable trailers with no air conditioning, and they spend long hours in the direct sun in states like Colorado and California. Herding is a livelihood designed for high temperatures—the animals can be moved to where there's food and water as needed.
However, drought and extremely hot summers can mean less food and water for livestock—and more extreme temperatures. As herders search for water and pasture, they may walk with the animals for almost 12 hours a day in the sun, one Kenyan herder told our team. In Kenya, pastoralists have a higher risk of dehydration at high ambient temperatures, which have become more frequent.
In California, extreme temperatures have become more common too. A state report warned that herders can die from heat-related illness and underscored that employers must have heat illness prevention plans with precautions like prompt emergency responses. Because they are so isolated, herders may only go to the doctor when badly injured or very sick, so researchers usually only get brief glimpses into herders' health and how it's affected by heat exposure.
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