A mild cold wave is sweeping over parts of the country and has been impacting daily life, particularly affecting day labourers, children, and the elderly.
According to the regular weather bulletin from Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), a mild cold wave is sweeping over parts of the country, and it may continue for two to three more days.
“Mild cold wave is sweeping over the districts of Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Panchagarh and Chuadanga, and it may abate from some places," the BMD forecast says.
The lowest temperature in the country today was recorded at 8.5 degrees Celsius in Dinajpur while the highest temperature was recorded at 26.8 degrees Celsius in Teknaf, reads the bulletin.
Temperatures between 8 to 10 degrees Celsius is considered a mild cold wave, 6 to 8 degrees Celsius a moderate cold wave, and less than 6 degrees Celsius a severe cold wave.
Moderate to thick fog may occur over the country during midnight to morning and it may continue till noon at places. Air navigation, inland river transport, and road communication may be disrupted temporarily due to fog, according to the bulletin.
Weather may remain dry, with temporary partly cloudy skies over the country.
Night temperature may rise slightly and day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country. Cold day condition is likely to prevail at many places over the country, reads the bulletin.
People of the country, especially in the northern part, have been experiencing bone-shivering cold for the last couple of days, that has thrown normal life out of gear.
Dhaka’s air still ‘unhealthy’
As cold weather continues to impact daily life, Dhaka’s air quality has been again marked ‘unhealthy’.
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 164 at 9:10am this morning, Dhaka ranked eighth on the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality.
India’s Kolkata, Delhi and China’s Chengdu occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 360, 246 and 186, respectively.
An AQI between 101 and 150 is considered 'unhealthy', AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants -- Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.
Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.
