The hot and dry weather during the day and plummeting mercury during the night are highly unusual phenomena in Bangladesh, said experts, blaming urbanisation and a set of weather conditions for the heatwave.
Amid a week-long heatwave, people in different parts of the country are experiencing a sizzling heat with the mercury soaring to 40.4 degrees Celsius in Dhaka, making it the hottest day in the last 58 years, while the season’s highest temperature of 42.2 degrees Celsius was recorded in Chuadanga.
Dhaka has witnessed a rise in temperature of almost 3 degrees Celsius in the last 20 years while the world is fighting to contain the increase in global temperature to under 1.5 degrees.
The increase in annual daytime temperature in Dhaka over the last 20 years is 2.74 degrees Celsius, finds a study conducted on five major cities of Bangladesh.
Like Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal and Sylhet have also witnessed rising trends of day and night temperatures in the timeframe, said the study, which surmised that population density, lack of greenery, uneven building heights, and human activities are the main reasons behind the trend.