Heat Stifles Bangladesh Tea Pickers, India/Pakistan Prep For Cyclone
An "extremely severe" cyclone, named Biparjoy, is set to hammer India and Pakistan later this week, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Meanwhile, about 1,500 miles east across the subcontinent, extreme heat in northeast Bangladesh is harming tea pickers and their harvest while also depressing tourism in the region, Context reports. "It's too hot and I can't continue working," said Phul Kumari, 45, in Sreemangal. "I feel like I'm standing ... beside the cooker in the kitchen," she added. "I've never seen this situation in my entire life." Summer temperatures in the country's tea capital usually top out in the mid-80s Fahrenheit but feel cooler because of the rain, but that has changed in recent years. Temperatures soared above 100°F in May with just half the usual rain — all of this adds up to a harvest expected to be just half of last year's and a local tourism industry struggling to attract visitors even with 60% discounts. "We have heard about climate change many times," Kazi Shamsul Haque, general secretary of the Sreemangal Tourism Service Organisation, told Context. "Now we can see the impact in our area." (Cyclone: AP, Bloomberg $, AP; Bangladesh: Context; Climate Signals background: Cyclonic storms, Extreme heat and heatwaves)
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