The land surface temperature of the capital has increased by 6.43 degrees Celsius in 27 years with an average annual temperature rise of 0.24 degrees Celsius while Dhaka has never been built as a climate-resilient city.
According to a study shared at a seminar on Thursday, researchers said Dhaka was losing the labour value equivalent to $6.0 billion every year.
If this continues, Bangladesh may lose 5.0 per cent of working hours by 2030. That equates to more than 3.3 million full-day jobs and 4.9 per cent GDP loss.
Md Liakath Ali, director of the Climate Change Programme, Urban Development Programme, and Disaster Risk Management Programme at BRAC, said this in his presentation.
He showed that from 1993 to 2020 the LST of Dhaka saw the temperature rise.
Since 1989, greening has decreased from 17 per cent to 2 per cent, he added.
Participants in the seminar said Southeast Asia is among the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world.
Since early April, there have been numerous reports of extremely hot temperatures in this area. However, scientists warn that there are no quick fixes.
Bushra Afreen, chief heat officer of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), spoke at the seminar and lamented that Dhaka city has never been built as a climate resilient city.
She termed Dhaka as a unique city as there are so many authorities separately govern the city.
Mentioning that the glass façade or building of glass wall causes heating up buildings environment, she emphasised on regulation on the use of glass against the given weather in Bangladesh.
Experts at the seminar strongly advocate an initiative to plant more trees in both urban and rural areas as a way to reduce extreme heatwaves and protect biodiversity.
Farina Ahmed, secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, attended the seminar as the chief guest.
Asif Saleh, executive director of BRAC, spoke among others.
Prof Elfatih A.B Eltahir from the Hydrology and Climate Department and Yeon Woo Choi, a post-doctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), provided insights on the causes and projections of heatwaves in Bangladesh.
Muhammad Abul Kalam Mallik, a meteorologist at Bangladesh Meteorological Department, underlined that localisation of knowledge is necessary to address the climate change as it has become increasingly challenging to deal with the climate effects and temperature rise.
Fossil fuel use remains a major cause of temperature rise, participants added.
Dharitri Kumar Sarkar, deputy secretary of environment ministry, said extreme weather like heatwaves would remain a global problem and regular climate disasters in days ahead.
The people in and out of major cities are similarly affected by heatwaves as temperature saw a rise, he said.
The government has taken measures like national adaptation plan to duly address the climate challenges, he added.
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