Bangladesh High Court judges have ordered the closure of schools across the country in response to the country's longest heatwave in 75 years. A decision that reverses the one with which the government on Sunday had established the return to class for 32 million children, despite the scorching temperatures expected in the country until next Thursday. And motivated – explained the judges of the High Court – by the news of some deaths among teachers linked precisely to temperatures, which in various parts of the nation have exceeded the threshold of 40 degrees. Furthermore, Bangladesh is not the only case in Asia: the heat wave hit the entire region, with alarming consequences for health, agriculture and education.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, there has been no escape from the heat since the beginning of April: every day of the month, with the exception of the 9th and 10th, saw authentic heat wave temperatures. Since last April 21, the government had imposed a national closure of schools for a week, lifting the order at the weekend. The news of deaths among teachers and illnesses among young students in various areas of the country, however, pushed the high court to extend the national lockdown until next Thursday, when the heat should finally provide some respite.
In Dacca, the capital, temperatures remained 4-5 degrees above the average for the period throughout last week. And the same happened in many areas of the country, with peaks of almost 43 degrees recorded in the southwestern district of Chuadanga. As meteorologist Muhammad Abul Kalam Mallik explained, Bangladesh has never seen such an intense heat wave since records began in 1948. “This is a record for duration and coverage area in the country – underlined the expert – And the problem is that in the future we will see such serious heat waves more often”. The meteorologist explained in fact that the extreme phenomenon we are witnessing this year is linked to climate change, which makes heat waves longer and more frequent, rapid urbanisation, deforestation, the reduction of water bodies and the increase of the use of air conditioning. All problems that are unlikely to improve in the coming years.
Hot spring in many areas of Asia
As we were saying, Bangladesh is not the only nation affected by the heat wave of recent weeks. In the Philippines, schools have been closed since yesterday, with thermometers expected to exceed 37 degrees in the coming days, and temperatures felt to be over 45 degrees, due to high humidity. In Thailand last week a record of 44.2 degrees was recorded in the city of Lampang, in the north of the country, and high temperatures are also expected in the coming days, with over 40 degrees in the capital Bangkok and in all the central-northern regions. According to the Thai health ministry, there have already been more than 30 deaths caused by extreme temperatures.
The situation is similar in Vietnam, Malaysia (deaths according to ministerial sources are already over 45), Indonesia, and in India, where the concomitance of the heat wave with the elections creates concern for the health of the population and for the regular conduct of consultations . It is also likely that the heat wave that has hit Asia in recent days is just a taste of what awaits us in the coming months: in recent years the average temperatures of the planet have continued to rise inexorably, and this year they will exacerbated by El Nino, making other record-breaking heat waves very likely, even in our latitudes.