Bangkok, Thailand—Record-breaking heat last month that prompted governments in Asia to close schools offers fresh evidence of how climate change is threatening the education of millions of children.
Hot weather can also drive wildfires and spikes in air pollution, which have caused school closures everywhere from India to Australia. “Not only are the temperatures higher, the duration of the high temperatures is much longer,” he told AFP. Bangladesh’s urban schools can be sturdy, but are often overcrowded, with little ventilation, said Sengupta.
But closing schools comes with serious consequences, “particularly for children from poorer, vulnerable communities, who do not have access to resources such as computers, internet and books,” said Salwa Aleryani, UNICEF’s health specialist for East Asia and the Pacific.