Extreme weather events increased by 46% in Bangladesh: Study
The report, authored by Lauren O’Leary, Dr Shouro Dasgupta, and Prof Elizabeth JZ Robinson, highlighted that the health of millions in Bangladesh is at risk due to climate change and immediate action is needed, reads a press release issued on Wednesday.
Bangladesh has seen a 46% rise in extreme weather events, according to a recent report by the London School of Economics and Political Science's Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, and the Environment and Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy.
The report, authored by Lauren O'Leary, Dr Shouro Dasgupta, and Prof Elizabeth JZ Robinson, highlighted that the health of millions in Bangladesh is at risk due to climate change and immediate action is needed, reads a press release issued on Wednesday.
In 2021, the summer season experienced a 0.49°C temperature rise, causing infants to face 12 additional heatwave days and lead to higher heat-related deaths. The study shows a 148% surge in heat-related fatalities among individuals aged 65 and above, resulting in 1,430 deaths during 2017-2021.
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Dr Shouro Dasgupta, senior fellow of Grantham Research Institute, and one of the authors of the report said, "Climate change threatens to reverse decades of Bangladesh's remarkable progress in public health, especially in child and maternal health."
The report highlighted that Bangladesh's public health is being seriously affected by climate change through disasters like droughts, floods, and cyclones, which are destroying land, damaging health facilities, and harming people.
Bangladesh, consistently ranking among the worst countries for air pollution, sees high mortality rates due to respiratory infections, lung cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Some 24,000 people in the Dhaka region alone were estimated to have died prematurely due to air pollution between 2005 and 2018.
The study shows that food insecurity in Bangladesh is projected to increase by 7.4 percentage-points by 2041-2060. Moreover, climatic changes are increasing disease vectors, evident in the 2022 surge in dengue cases linked to high rainfall and temperature in Dhaka.
The report highlighted those earlier policies like the Health and Population Sector Program (HPSP) focused on healthcare improvements without addressing climate change explicitly.
