North Dhaka is particularly vulnerable to the urban heat-island effect due to its densely populated city centre, with some urban hotspots more than 10˚C (18˚F) higher than the surrounding countryside. With the number of dangerously hot days a year estimated to double by 2050, the impacts of extreme heat in Dhaka will also intensify.
Bangladesh’s crowded capital is estimated to be home to more than 23 million people, with approximately 2,000 more people a day arriving. Many have migrated from rural villages after being forced to leave their homes due to other climate disasters; two-thirds of Bangladesh is less than 5 metres (15ft) above sea level (with about 10% of the country only 1 metre above it), and the rising ocean and heat-amplified cyclones have already claimed hundreds of thousands of hectares of land.