Across Bangladesh, classes were canceled because of the heat, but Mohua High School student Akter Noor found that rising temperatures at home prevented him from doing his homework.
Millions of students have been ordered to stay indoors this week as the South Asian country experiences one of its worst heat waves, with a long-term average of 4-5 degrees Celsius (7.2-9 degrees Fahrenheit).
Some schools in the capital, Dhaka, have air conditioning, and classes will be easy. But the government’s decision to close the school did not make it easy for 13-year-old Nur.
The one-room apartment in the megacity shared with his brother and parents breathed as much as the outdoors.
“The heat is unbearable,” AFP news agency said. Our school is closed, but I can’t study at home. Electric fans don’t cool us,” he said. “When the power goes out for a few hours, it feels really bad.”
Rumana Islam, Noor’s mother, was lying in the corner of her house after a sleepless night covered in sweat after cooking for her family. “Last year it was hot, but this year it’s really hot – more than ever. It’s just unbearable.”
“You can go out in the village and cool yourself in the shade of the trees.” The wind blows through the fields. But in Dhaka, all you can do is sit at home.”
Temperatures across the country last week topped 42C (108F). The heat has forced thousands of Bangladeshis to gather in urban and rural mosques to pray for relief from the scorching weather, which observers expect will continue into the weekend.
Bangladeshi authorities hope to reopen schools on April 28, before the weather is expected to deteriorate. Extensive scientific research has found that climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.
The United Nations said this week that Asia will be the region most affected by climate and weather hazards in 2023, with floods and storms the main cause of death and economic loss.
Millions of people in South and Southeast Asia have been sweltering again this week in unusually hot weather.
Bangladesh and its 171 million people are at the forefront of the global climate crisis, constantly battered by severe cyclones and floods that are increasing in frequency and severity.
Recent weather conditions have caused diarrhea in the south of the country due to higher temperatures and salinity of local water sources.
Around the housing estate where the Noor family lives, along with dozens of other low-income families, adults huddle inside their homes in the afternoon, trying to avoid the scorching heat.
“It’s so hot that it’s hard to drive in these conditions,” said 40-year-old Mohammad Yusuf, who like Noor’s father and many of his neighbors earns money as a driver.
“You can relax for a while with air conditioning,” he said. “But when you’re outside, you look like you’re on fire.”
