Frequent power outages lasting up to an hour or even more have made lives miserable in rural Bangladesh amidst rising day temperatures.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department issued a warning on Thursday that the days ahead were likely to become hotter and drier, with reduced rainfall.
Heatwaves in September, the last monsoon month, are rare. However, they were becoming increasingly common in line with global warming.
On Thursday, Bangladesh’s highest maximum temperature of 35.8°C was recorded in Rajshahi. Dhaka recorded its highest maximum temperature of 33.9°C.
“This is unbearable. Power cuts are so frequent that we cannot recharge our IPS,” said Meherun Nesa, a resident of Tangail.
“Since September began, we have been having 10 hours or more of power cuts,” she added.
On the first day of September, Sylhet recorded a temperature of 38 °C, one of the highest daily temperatures this monsoon. Between August 29 and September 1, the daily temperature in Sylhet increased by 5.5 °C. In Dhaka, the temperature increased by 4.3 °C between the last day of August and the first day of September.
The ongoing monsoon has been rather comfortable compared with the last few because of frequent spells of rain. Active monsoon and low-pressure systems triggered cautionary signal number 3 thirteen times between the last week of May and August.
There were hardly any heatwaves in the ongoing monsoon.
On Thursday, the Power Grid Bangladesh data showed, power outages occurred almost every hour, even when the power demand hovered around 13,000MW, less than half of Bangladesh’s installed power generation capacity of 28,132MW, excluding the captive power generation capacity of 2,800MW.
Since September 3, the highest load shedding of 283MW was recorded at 10:00pm against the demand of 15,900MW. During the peak load shed hour, 5,227MW was generated from gas, 42 per cent of the installed gas capacity. About 82 per cent of the coal capacity was used during the peak load shedding hour. About 60 per cent of the oil capacity was also used at the peak load shedding hour.
There were no heatwaves recorded in August.
In the Changing Climate of Bangladesh report, the BMD said that in the years between 1980 and 2023, heatwaves in September occurred 17 times, 12 of them after 2015.
In Rajshahi, the report said, the number of heatwave days increased dramatically after 2005. Lately, heatwaves have been recorded even in October in Rangpur.
The temperature of Bangladesh shows clear signs of changing changetowards a warmer climate, the report said.
A heat wave occurs when the daily maximum temperature reaches or exceeds 36 °C over a large area, and it is classified into three categories based on temperature: mild, moderate, and severe.
The human body cannot properly function when the temperature reaches 36 °C.
A temperature above 33°C affects the functioning of enzymes in body cells.
The malfunctioning may result in fatal heat strokes. People are advised to take shelter under shades whenever possible and carry umbrellas and drinking water.
It is typical of children to catch a cold during summer from relentless sweating.
Health experts also advise people relying on outdoor activities for their livelihoods to start the day early. Heat waves in Bangladesh are particularly dangerous because of the high moisture in the air. High moisture obstructs the natural cooling system of the body.
A World Bank report released in 2021 stated that intense temperatures could also lead to heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and reduced productivity.
In 2019, the WB report said heat stress caused an estimated loss of 148 work hours per person, which means 18.2 billion work hours were lost in total in the year, compared to 13.3 billion work hours lost in 2013.