Climate change is not a distant warning for Bangladesh; it is an unfolding daily reality for millions of people across the country. Communities are not merely anticipating its consequences; they are already living with them. Research conducted by the Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program (OKUP) indicates that the frequency of climate-related disasters in Bangladesh has nearly doubled from an average of four per year between 1960 and 1990 to seven annually since 1990. Multiple studies further show that, over the past four decades, seasonal mean temperatures have risen by 0.4 to 0.65°C, marked by warmer winters and increasingly intense summer heat. Rainfall patterns have also shifted.
These changing climate trends now pose a heightened threat to every district in Bangladesh. From the fragile riverbanks of the north to the coastal belts of the south, floods are becoming more frequent, cyclones more destructive, and salinity intrusion more severe. These forces are steadily erasing homes, farmland, and livelihoods that generations have depended on for survival. Each year, more than thousands of families watch their houses collapse into rivers, their crops fail, and their livelihoods disappear. When land is lost and work becomes scarce, survival itself becomes uncertain. With no assets left and no local employment opportunities, many are forced to leave their homes in search of survival elsewhere. In this context, migration is not driven by ambition or opportunity, rather, it is driven by necessity.
For millions of Bangladeshis, migration is not a choice but it is a consequence of repeated environmental shocks and the absence of adequate protection, adaptation, and support systems.
Despite challenges, migrants try to cope. Yet intensifying heatwaves have pushed their suffering to unbearable levels. Most slum homes are made of tin sheets, with no windows and barely enough space to move. During heatwaves, these structures trap heat, turning into stifling ovens. Piped water becomes too warm to drink or bathe, food spoils quickly, and sleep becomes nearly impossible taking a severe toll on both physical and mental health and diminishing people's ability to work and earn. One migrant from Agargaon slum, described the experience: Last year, at the peak of the heatwave, the temperature rose to nearly 42°C. It was impossible to breathe. Even staying inside our home felt unbearable.
Meteorological data confirms what migrants endure daily. The World Bank also acknowledges that Bangladesh now ranks second globally in exposure to extreme temperatures, and Dhaka's heat index has risen to about 65 percent above the national average.
But the suffering does not stop at home. The conditions are even harsher in workplaces. Construction and day laborers endure long hours under the scorching sun, often in poorly ventilated or unsafe conditions, with no protection during peak heat. The consequences are immediate and severe. Workers suffer from heat stress, dehydration, fatigue, and sometimes life-threatening heatstroke. Rickshaw pullers face even greater risks. Without fixed workplaces, regular schedules, or reliable access to water, they often drink only when free water is available, leaving them vulnerable to dehydration, kidney problems, and other chronic illnesses.
The constant strain of heat takes a toll beyond the body. Fatigue, irritability, and anxiety over lost wages weigh heavily on mental health. Many workers are forced to reduce hours or skip work entirely during extreme heat, but doing so comes at a cost. They lose their wages or leaving families without enough to eat. For them coping is mostly forced, as there are no systematic, cultural, or policy-based mechanisms to protect them. The informal sector employers often put profit above safety, and weak oversight leaves these dangers largely unchecked. There are no targeted social safety nets, no heat specific protection policies, and no social or cultural safeguards to shield them from the harsh realities of relentless heat.
Climate induced migrants are undeniably on the frontlines of this emerging heat crisis. Yet their struggles remain largely invisible in mainstream policy discussions. Migration is frequently treated as an urban planning issue, heat as an environmental problem, and housing as a separate concern, while for migrants, these crises are inseparably intertwined and experienced simultaneously. If Bangladesh is serious about climate justice, it must recognize climate migrants not as passive victims, but as active citizens deserving protection, dignity, and adaptation support. Urban planning frameworks, affordable and safe housing initiatives, heat action plans, and social protection systems must explicitly and intentionally include climate-induced migrants. Practical measures such as community cooling shelters, reflective or green roofing programs in slum areas, accessible water bodies, and drinkable water points, and enforceable occupational heat-safety guidelines could make immediate and measurable differences. Without such inclusion action, Dhaka risks continuing to grow not as a city of opportunity, innovation, and resilience, but as a city of survival under unbearable and silent heat.
Urmi Jahan Tanni is research manager at OKUP and Md. Mahmudul Hasan is a researcher
