ABDULLAH HEL BUBUN

Bangladesh is warming at a pace never seen before, and the rising heat is becoming increasingly dangerous.

The number of days each year when the heat feels unsafe for the human body has nearly tripled in the past two decades. In 2000, Bangladesh recorded about 46 days when the “feels-like” or apparent temperature crossed 35°C. By 2024, that number rose to 120 days -- an increase of 163 percent.

No country in the world, except for Cambodia, experienced a steeper rise in the number of such days over the same period.

This level of heat is not just uncomfortable. At this threshold, the human body struggles to cool itself, especially in Bangladesh’s humid conditions. This increases the risk of illness, reduces people’s ability to work, and puts pressure on the economy.

The findings are based on an analysis by The Daily Star using Heat Index (HI) data compiled by the World Bank’s Climate Change Knowledge Portal and heat-related health data from the Lancet Countdown.

Recent data from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) also show how intense and widespread this heat has become. Already this year, heatwaves have affected up to 40 districts on a single day (June 2), while smaller spells earlier in the season covered around a dozen districts.

In 2025, heatwaves spread even further, reaching as many as 49 districts at once. The situation was most severe in 2024, when heatwaves affected 51 out of the 64 districts and set a record for the number of heatwave days in April alone.

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