Bangladesh: Coastal Flooding
By: Paul Stark
CONTEXT OF A DISASTER
Bangladesh has approximately a 150 million people population.
An estimated 50 million people live below the poverty
line.
Approximately 25% of the country floods every year in
the monsoon season.
The average person in Bangladesh lives on 500 US
dollars a year.
Bangladesh is widely recognized to be a country most
affected by global climate change.
Coastal inundation due to sea
levels rising.
Most land is below 12 meters in elevation
Extreme coastal flooding can cause
saline intrusion into aquifers.
RIVER FLOODING:
Bangladesh resides essentially on a series
of deltas.
When the rivers flood a large portion of the
country is inundated
Almost every year these floods cause a
significant amount of damage and loss of
life in the areas surrounding the rivers
where crops such as rice are grown.
Ex. 2007 Flood “Inundated 32,000 sq. km,
over 85,000 houses destroyed and almost 1
million damaged, approximately 1.2 million
acres of crops destroyed or partially
damaged, estimated damage over $1
billion, 649 deaths”
Global Climate Change is predicted to
increase the frequency of these floods.
FLOODING!
TROPICAL CYCLONES:
Bangladesh is struck by a severe tropical
cyclone on an average of every three years.
In the past up to 500,000 people have been
killed in one cyclone season 1970.
As global temperatures rise, severe cyclone
frequency increases.
Cyclones can generate waves and surges up
to 7m high.
These surges can travel up to 30 miles
inland due to the low topography.
Inhabitants of had some form of adoption
in the form of apprx 2100 cyclone shelters
that can house up to 2000 people each.
Cyclone Shelter
What to do about it?
In reality, not much.
Continue to make meager adaptations to stem the loss of life in the
face of increasingly frequent severe weather events.
Continue to appeal to high carbon emitting states to stem the
output of atmospheric green house gasses in an effort to save their
country from destruction.
RESOURCES:
http://www.topnews.in/workers-strike-paralyses-bangladesh-river-operations-2233846
http://freshclick.wordpress.com/2009/03/21/floods-in-bangladesh/
http://www.moef.gov.bd/moef.pdf
http://muktimusician.wordpress.com/floods-in-bangladesh/
http://www.tear.org.au/advocacy/campaigns/climate-change/bangladesh/
http://ecopolitology.org/2009/12/08/doling-out-the-non-existent-adaptation-fundswho-needs-it-most/