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Tanjimul Alam (35), who works at a filling station in Dhaka's West Rampura neighbourhood, got a stomach ache with fatigue intermittently for days.
Working in hot temperatures and sweating all day made him feel weak, which he did not feel even a few years ago at the same workstation.
"I've been working in the area for years. There were trees and greenery on road islands. But those were chopped to repair roads and for other utility works."
"It feels like we live in a city which treats trees as an enemy," he told the FE.
Mr Alam is not unease alone in this changing climate. People here struggle to find some green space like Ramna Park to get a relief from weather extremes with high humidity.
Up to 4.0 degrees Celsius differ between areas like Ramna Park and Rampura or Farmgate due to this lush green vegetation.
Yet, Dhaka has been witnessing a higher temperature rise than this global trend mainly because of the fast-depleting green space and waterbodies.
Prof Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, who heads environmental science department at Stamford University Bangladesh, said Dhaka has seen a three-time higher temperature rise in the last three decades.
"The current global temperature trend is 1.2 degrees Celsius while Dhaka sees 3-4 degrees. Extreme weather now stays longer than before and people can't adapt to such climate stresses."
Animals on the surface and in the water face new adaptation challenges due to these changing weather patterns, he told the FE.
"We have to raise the ratio of greenery and waterbodies against the fast-growing concrete structures in Dhaka as waterbodies can cut temperature in natural ways," continued Prof Majumder.
According to a Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) study this June, Dhaka had 53.11-square kilometre green and open space in 2015.
In 2023, it decreased to 29.85 square kilometre.
To ensure the livability of the city, 15 per cent of the total land area of the city should be kept as green area. It is only 7.0 per cent in Dhaka city.
According to global standards, 10-12 per cent of the total land area should be wetlands to make a city liveable. But Dhaka has less than 3.0 per cent.
As a consequence of this changing climate, the extreme weather is causing a greater impact on city-dwellers' physical and mental health.
A joint study was conducted by Georgetown University, George Washington University and the World Bank and published in Lancet Planetary Health this February said climate change has a greater impact on people's mental health in Bangladesh.
The study found a direct link between climate change and mental health issues.
Public-health expert Dr Lelin Chowdhury said the changing weather is blamed for people's worsening physical and mental health.
It also impacts the food chain and food habits, and causes anxiety, desperation and behavioural changes.
Greenery is an absolute necessity in a habitat to absorb the carbon dioxide we generate. Otherwise, it will automatically raise the temperature and cause an unhealthy environment, he explained.
"The real feeling of Dhaka's temperature is 6-8 degrees more than what we see. We experience a 4.0-degree temperature difference between Farmgate and Ramna Park because of the greenery or trees we have in the park."
People sweat and dehydrate unusually and can face heatstroke, kidney disease and long dehydration because of this changing climate and hot temperature.
By the same token, Dr Lelin explained, such temperatures help spread some bacteria.
"Extreme weather also affects mental health. Temperature rise directly affects sound brain function, raises heartbeat, causes mental disturbance, imbalanced behaviour, capacity loss of giving concentration and making right decisions."
The city corporations, however, claimed they were working hard to improve this situation.
Dhaka North City Corporation CEO Selim Reza said air pollution by brick kilns, exhaust fumes and others are contributing to a rise in temperature in Dhaka.
However, the city authorities are working to improve the situation by getting tough with cutters of trees, promoting tree planting in roads and reclaiming waterbodies.
"We've determined not to allow anyone to chop a single tree in Dhaka under our jurisdiction without permission. We're also scrutinising any legal option to restrict tree cutting in private areas."
The city corporation has taken multiple measures, including evacuating footpath occupants and preparing 20 city parks for dwellers, he told the FE.
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