Jasmin Akter (32), a resident of Shailkhali village in Koikhali Union of Shyamnagar Upazila, Satkhira, starts her day with a pitcher in hand. She walks 2-3 kilometers to collect drinking water, which she uses for cooking and consumption.

After cooking, she feeds her son and elderly mother. Her son then heads off to school, leaving Jasmin to search for work. She has no fixed job and must adapt to seasonal tasks. Sometimes she repairs roads, works as a day laborer, harvests paddy, digs soil, or even catches fish from rivers to sell.

During summer, Jasmin cooks outside her house on an open stove. The intense heat from both the fire and the scorching sun overhead tests her endurance.

“There’s saltwater everywhere here,” Jasmin says. “We don’t have access to drinking water and have to fetch it from afar. This has become routine, and I have to do it daily.”

Due to climate change, salinity is increasing in coastal areas like Shyamnagar Upazila in Satkhira. Women bear the brunt of managing water for household needs, from cooking to drinking, which often feels like a daily battle.

Adding to their struggles is the rising temperature, which has made their lives even more difficult, both at home and at work, especially while cooking and at job sites.

Jasmin cooks on an open stove under the summer sun in the morning. She endures the heat of the fire and the sun simultaneously. After cooking, she sets out to look for work, braving the heat again.

When her son was just two years old, Jasmin’s husband married another woman. She was forced to return to her parental home. However, her father had passed away before this incident. Thus began Jasmin’s struggle to support her mother and son.

“I can’t afford to sit idle,” says Jasmin. “I have to ensure my son’s education and provide for my mother’s medicine.”

Though her personal story is unique, the life struggles of most women in coastal areas resemble Jasmin’s. They are constantly battling climate change-induced challenges like salinity and heatwaves.

Jasmin explains that during winter, catching fish in rivers becomes difficult due to the extreme cold. Summer is the hardest season, as drinking water becomes scarce because river and tubewell water are salty. During the monsoon, she collects and stores rainwater to drink. But during summer droughts, the drinking water crisis becomes severe, forcing her to fetch water by walking 2-3 kilometers daily.

Local residents state that most people in Shyamnagar villages bathe in ponds. However, during summer, when ponds dry up, they are compelled to bathe in the salty river water, leading to waterborne and skin diseases.

When riverbanks erode, salty river water floods freshwater ponds and fish enclosures in the locality, damaging crops like paddy and watermelon. Women face the brunt of these climate-induced problems.

Jobeda Khatun, a resident of Sahebkhali village in Koikhali Union, lost her husband seven years ago. She has no sons, only three married daughters. Jobeda lives alone in a small mud house with a straw roof.

To cover her living expenses and medical bills, she catches fish from rivers and sells them in local markets. Sometimes, she sells fish door-to-door in villages or does household work for others. She also works as a day laborer, weeding grass from paddy fields, threshing rice, and performing other tasks.

During the intense summer heat, when ponds and canals dry up, Jobeda struggles with a water crisis, both for drinking and bathing. She has to walk nearly 3 kilometers to fetch water from a tubewell in Shailkhali village. During monsoons, rainwater leaks into her mud house through holes in the straw roof.

Heavy rain often floods her yard and nearby water bodies, and water enters her makeshift toilet, which is surrounded by sacks. Cyclones often damage the toilet’s fencing and roof, and sometimes even the roof of her house blows away. Extreme cold during winter makes fishing in rivers difficult, while the lack of proper winter clothing affects her ability to work as a laborer.

Data from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department also confirms rising temperatures. According to the department, the temperature in Khulna and its adjacent coastal areas has increased by nearly 5°C in the last 14 years.

In 2011, the annual average temperature in this region was 31.1°C. By 2024, it reached a record 41.2°C.

Experts attribute this to the effects of climate change, which is causing temperature rises and other natural impacts.

Dr. Abul Kalam Mallik, a meteorologist at the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, states that heatwaves are a significant consequence of climate change, disproportionately affecting women.

Jannatul Mawa, executive director of Satkhira-based development organization Bindhu, highlights that 39.9%, 41%, and 40% of women and adolescent girls in Shyamnagar, Kaliganj, and Ashashuni Upazilas, respectively, suffer from reproductive health issues.

“Many women face urinary infections and reproductive health complications from drinking salty water or consuming insufficient water,” she says. “These issues are also contributing to child marriage in the region. Adolescent girls face physical complications from early pregnancies.”

Jannatul Naim, founder of volunteer organization Sorup Youth Team in Shyamnagar, says that rising temperatures due to climate change are severely impacting women. During intense heat, all water bodies in the area dry up, and tubewell water becomes saline.

“Women wear heavy clothing even in the heatwave, and they spend hours in traditional kitchens without proper cooking facilities, exposed to heat and smoke. Salinity is also causing significant health risks,” she explains.

For years, Dr. Mahbuba Nasrin, a professor at the Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies, Dhaka University, has been researching climate change. She points out that the problems are even more acute for women in remote areas.