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Global warming is having multidimensional impacts on countries and communities—and not just in terms of erratic climate events. According to a Duke University study, Bangladesh suffers from a loss of approximately seven billion hours per year due to global warming’s extreme heat. Because the majority of their population relies on manual labor to earn their livings, low- and middle-income countries such as Bangladesh are most at risk from global warming. Researchers have estimated that Bangladesh could lose approximately 21 million working hours if the global temperature rises just one degree Celsius. It would also lose 31 to 56 billion working hours if it rose by 2 or 4.
One researcher stated that this means that as the heat and humidity levels rise as a result of climate change, it will be harder to move outdoor labour to cooler hours. This would lead to further labour shortages. Research also shows that in Dhaka on a hot summer day, the temperature stays between 27 and 28 degrees Celsius. In a 12-hour workday an average worker loses 10 minute of work time due to heat exposure.
Follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel to get the most recent news. These are alarming numbers as they highlight the multidimensional crisis we face in our country as the worst affected by climate change. We are once again the victims of a climate change condition that we did not create or sustain. Nor do we have the ability to solve it. The research findings, published in a peer reviewed paper, offer important pointsers for our researchers to dig deeper and discover what these mean for affected communities and individuals, and how we can minimize the damage.
One thing is certain: going forward, we will have to live with increasing losses of working hours and even capabilities, which is particularly disturbing as our production sectors—from agriculture to industry—are vastly labour-intensive. This will have a significant impact on our economy. It is imperative that policies are designed and implemented to mitigate the negative effects of global warming. The government will be wise enough to heed these warnings.
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