Bangladesh faces its longest heat wave in nearly half a century

Heat waves have been hitting Bangladesh for two weeks. The government has decided to close tens of thousands of primary schools until Thursday, June 8, but the country is facing major power cuts.

People collect drinking water at a roadside tap in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 6, 2023. REUTERS - MOHAMMAD PONIR HOSSAIN

Text by: RFI Follow

Advertising

Read more

More than 40 degrees in the capital Dhaka, up to 41.3 degrees recorded Saturday in the district of Dinajpur in the north of the country, a record since 1958.

Bangladesh is suffocating, if sales of air conditioners and fans are exploding, their buyers do not always have enough to run them. Since Monday, electricity production at Bangladesh's largest power plant has been idling due to a coal shortage. In some areas, power outages can last up to ten hours a day.

Electricity Minister Nasrul Hamid said he hoped the situation would normalize within ten to fifteen days. "We cannot supply enough coal, gas and fuel," he told reporters, blaming the situation on "economic factors."

>> Read also: The oceans had their warmest May on record

Street vendor during a heat wave in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 6, 2023. REUTERS - MOHAMMAD PONIR HOSSAIN

Climate change singled out

The heat wave began in April, lasted into May before easing and then resuming more beautifully. According to a senior official of the meteorological department, this high heat is expected to continue for a few more days. Authorities expect monsoon rains by mid-June.

The heat wave of the past two weeks is considered the longest in Bangladesh's history since independence in 1971.

According to an academic study, climate change is to blame. These extreme heat waves would have become at least thirty times more likely than before in Bangladesh, as well as in its neighbors India, Laos or Thailand. On June 3, the northern district of Dinajpur recorded a temperature of 41.3 degrees, the highest on record since 1958.

>> Also listen: Even cacti will get too hot

(

and with AFP)

Newsletter Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

Read on on the same topics:

  • Bangladesh
  • Natural disasters
  • Climate change