Scorching heat wave shuts schools in Bangladesh

BANGLADESH: Classes are canceled across Bangladesh due to searing heat, but high school student Mohua Akter Nur found the soaring temperatures at home left her in no state for homework.

This week, as the South Asian country swelters under one of its worst heatwaves on record, with temperatures 4-5 degrees Celsius (7.2-9 degrees Fahrenheit) over the long-term normal, millions of students were ordered to stay home.
Since few schools in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, have air conditioning, it would have been pointless to try to hold classes, according to AFP.
However, 13-year-old Nur was not relieved by the government’s decision to close schools.

Her parents and younger brother occupy her small, one-room apartment in the megacity, which feels almost as stuffy as the streets outside.
“It’s too hot outside. It’s closed at our school, and I can’t study at home. We are not kept cool by the electric fan,” she told AFP.

“When the power went out for an hour or two, it felt terrible.”
‘Unbearable’
Nur’s mother Rumana Islam was lying down in a corner of their home after a sleepless night, coated in sweat after cooking for her family.
“Last year was hot, but this year is too hot — more than ever. Just unbearable,” she said.
“In villages, you can step out and cool yourself under the shade of trees.

Temperatures across the country have reached more than 42C (108F) in the past week.

The heat prompted thousands of Bangladeshis to gather in city mosques and rural fields, praying for relief from the scorching heat that forecasters expect to continue through the weekend.

Bangladesh authorities expect to reopen schools from April 28, before temperatures are expected to recede.
Extensive scientific research has found climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent, and more intense.

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