Bangladesh has swung from scorching pre-monsoon heat to devastating monsoon floods within weeks, prompting scientists to ask whether the country is entering an era of compound climate disasters—where one climate extreme weakens communities before another strikes, amplifying humanitarian, economic, and health impacts.
The dramatic shift has unfolded in quick succession. After prolonged heatwaves gripped much of the country earlier this year, days of intense monsoon rainfall inundated large parts of southeastern and northeastern Bangladesh. Floods and rain-triggered landslides have killed dozens of people, forced thousands into shelters, disrupted livelihoods, and pushed several rivers above danger levels.
The latest crisis comes months after another warning sign. During the crucial Boro harvesting season, intense pre-monsoon heat gave way to heavy rainfall and flash floods in the northeastern haor region, submerging more than 46,000 hectares of cropland and threatening over 200,000 tons of rice production.
From heatwaves to floods
In early June, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department recorded mild-to-severe heatwave conditions across more than 40 districts, with temperatures approaching 40°C in several areas. Authorities warned that the hot spell could persist.
Instead, the weather shifted dramatically.
Persistent monsoon rain soon triggered widespread flooding across eastern, northeastern, and southeastern Bangladesh, prompting flood alerts in 14 districts as major rivers rose above danger levels in several locations.
In Cox's Bazar, heavy rain also triggered landslides that killed at least 17 people, including eight Rohingya refugees, among them children.
Are these compound climate disasters?
While the rapid transition from heatwaves to floods may appear unprecedented, climate scientists caution against assuming that every sequence of extreme weather automatically qualifies as a compound climate disaster.
"Bangladesh is experiencing the cascading consequences of multiple climate hazards," Dr Nandan Mukherjee, associate professor and director of the Binks Institute for Sustainability at the University of Dundee, told Dhaka Tribune.
"Flooding, exacerbated by sea-level rise and often followed by extreme heatwaves, is no longer an unexpected event but an emerging reality."
Mukherjee said Bangladesh has experienced an increasing frequency of both major floods and heatwaves over the past decade. In several years—including 2019, 2021, and 2024—both hazards occurred within the same year, highlighting the growing occurrence of multiple climate extremes.
He, however, stressed that their co-occurrence does not necessarily indicate a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
Instead, both hazards are being driven by a warming climate and changing atmospheric conditions, increasing the likelihood of cascading and compound climate risks.
A growing global concern
Scientists say climate change is making back-to-back extremes increasingly likely as rising global temperatures reshape weather patterns.
A March 2025 evidence paper, Double Jeopardy: Addressing Compound Flood and Heatwave Events, warns that climate change is increasing the likelihood of compound disasters in which floods and heatwaves occur simultaneously or in rapid succession, producing impacts greater than those caused by individual disasters alone.
Prepared by the Red Crescent Climate Centre, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the London School of Economics, Mercy Corps, and other partners, the report says one climate shock can undermine people's ability to cope with the next, turning separate hazards into cascading emergencies.
The report identifies three increasingly common patterns: heatwaves followed by floods, floods followed by heatwaves, and simultaneous floods and heatwaves.
Researchers say the greatest risks emerge when one disaster damages infrastructure, essential services, and livelihoods before another strikes, compounding health, economic, and humanitarian impacts.
Why it matters for Bangladesh
For Bangladesh—one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries—the implications are significant.
A cyclone or flood can damage electricity networks, contaminate drinking water, disrupt transportation, and force families into temporary shelters, leaving little opportunity for recovery before another hazard strikes.
Likewise, prolonged heatwaves can leave vulnerable communities physically exhausted and economically strained before floods arrive, making the next emergency even harder to withstand.
Bangladesh has earned international recognition for reducing cyclone-related deaths through investments in early warning systems, cyclone shelters, and community preparedness.
But experts say climate change is reshaping the country's risk profile—from managing individual disasters to preparing for multiple, overlapping climate hazards.
When extreme events occur within days or weeks of one another, health systems, emergency responders, and public services face mounting pressure as they respond to multiple climate-related crises at once.
Experts say disaster management strategies must evolve accordingly. They recommend integrating multi-hazard preparedness into national planning, strengthening combined early warning systems, building climate-resilient health and power infrastructure, protecting wetlands, restoring natural water bodies, and expanding urban green spaces.
As climate extremes become more frequent and increasingly interconnected, they argue, Bangladesh's resilience will depend not only on responding to disasters—but also on preparing for how one crisis can quickly lead to the next.
