Representational image. | New Age file photo
Bangladesh is becoming increasingly hotter and more humid, exposing millions of people to the dangerous combination of torturous heat and high humidity, threatening public health, labour productivity and urban liveability, according to two reports published recently.
One of the reports was published on Wednesday by the US-based Climate Central, according to which, Bangladesh experienced 200 dangerous heat days on average every year between 2016 and 2025.
According to another report published on Tuesday and produced jointly by two non-profit organisations, ISET-International and People’s Courage International, workers in Dhaka, one of the world’s fastest-warming cities, are bearing a disproportionate share of the heat burden.
The findings of the report titled ‘Hot cities make hard work harder’ come amid growing evidence that extreme heat is no longer a seasonal discomfort, but an emerging public health crisis in one of the world’s most densely populated and climate-vulnerable countries.
According to the Climate Central report titled ‘Global analysis: dangerous humid heat rising due to climate change’, Bangladesh recorded on an average 200 dangerous humid heat days per year in 2016–2025, up from 175 days annually in the 1970s.
Humid heat poses a particular danger because high humidity limits the body’s ability to cool itself through sweating, increasing the risk of dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and cardiovascular stress.
Dhaka experiences around 210 dangerous humid heat days annually, while Khulna records 224 days and Chattogram 211 days, according to the Climate Central report, saying that climate change alone is responsible for an estimated 25 additional dangerous humid heat days each year in Dhaka.
The study report titled ‘Hot cities make hard work harder’ identifies rising heat as one of the most significant climate-related threats facing workers in the capital.
The study examined the experiences of informal workers and internal migrants in five Asian cities and found that 74 per cent of surveyed migrants in Dhaka reported being negatively affected by increasing temperatures.
Workers employed in construction, garment factories, transport and domestic work reported growing difficulty coping with prolonged heat exposure, particularly in densely-built neighbourhoods where concrete structures trap heat and limit night-time cooling.
Kazi Rakibul Islam, vice-president of Doctors’ for Environment and Health platform, observes that high temperatures increase the risk of heat shocks, exposing body to many illnesses, including diarrhoea.
‘Children, pregnant women and elderly people are more exposed to the heat related diseases,’ he said.
In hotter temperature workers who do physical work outside are particularly at increased health risk and vulnerable to loss of productivity.
Researchers warn that informal workers often receive little institutional support during heatwaves and are forced to rely on personal coping mechanisms, such as using savings, borrowing money or working longer hours to offset lost income.
The Health Service Division’s Climate Change and Health Promotion Unit also reports that an overwhelming majority of the diseases in the country—91 per cent—are linked to climate-related factors.
Climate trend analyses using Bangladesh Meteorological Department data show that the frequency of heatwave conditions has increased significantly, particularly in the western districts.
A World Bank assessment published in 2025 found that the country’s maximum temperature had risen by about 1.1C since 1980, while ‘feels-like’ temperatures saw a sharper rise due to humidity and urban heat effects.
The country’s hottest areas are concentrated in the north-western and western districts, including Rajshahi, Chuadanga, Ishwardi and Jashore, where temperatures frequently exceed 40C in the pre-monsoon season, reports BMD.
In Dhaka, where rapid urbanisation intensifies the problem, has its heat island effect strengthened over time as vegetation, wetlands and water bodies have been replaced by heat-absorbing infrastructure, including roads and buildings.
Researchers have found that temperatures in parts of Dhaka can be 2C–3C higher than in surrounding rural areas during hot periods, with health consequences already becoming visible.
Physicians say that heat and humidity rise may cause cough, breathing difficulties and other respiratory diseases, asthma-related illnesses, typhoid and jaundice.
Despite mounting evidence of growing heat risks, experts say Bangladesh’s response remains largely reactive.
The Climate Change and Health Promotion Unit’s medical officer (adaptation) Dewan Mashrur Hossain said that the government was working to address the heat issue.
In 2024, the Directorate General of Health Services launched the National Guideline on Heat-Related Illness, while public health specialists are calling for heat-health early warning systems, expanded urban green spaces, occupational safety protections for outdoor workers, cooling centres, improved access to drinking water and heat-resilient urban planning.