Climate change is one of the most important issues to tackle this generation and possibly any generation in history.
Bangladesh is a very low energy consuming country; it is pursuing a low carbon growth path, while building its resilience to climate change and reducing the risk of climate change, which represents national development. However, Bangladesh is one of the top 10 nations that are mostly vulnerable to climate change and by the end of the century, Bangladesh may be set to disappear under the waves. The government and non-governmental organizations have a key role to play. This study was carried out by employing a general review of literature on climate change, focusing on its effects in Bangladesh, and the results of specific research recently conducted by the author of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is the nation most impacted by climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index. Sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion, an increase in mean temperature (1.7 °C by 2050), greater precipitation variability, and an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events are all likely to have a negative influence on the nation both now and in the next decades. Each of these will significantly affect the nations agricultural output, and this chapter will go into great length on each of them. Many farmer-developed climate smart agricultural techniques are mentioned and described.
Bangladesh is currently ranked as one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world. In Threatening Dystopias, Kasia Paprocki investigates the politics of climate change adaptation throughout the South Asian nation. Drawing on ethnographic and archival fieldwork, she engages with developers, policy makers, scientists, farmers, and rural migrants to show how Bangladeshi and global elites ignore the history of landscape transformation and its attendant political conflicts. Paprocki looks at how groups craft economic narratives and strategies.
Bangladesh is globally considered one of the most vulnerable and exposed countries to climate change (Climate change and Bangladesh Department of Environment, Government of People Republic of Bangladesh. Climate Change Cell, Dhaka, 2007). There is evidence of prominent increases in the intensity or frequency of many extreme events such as flood, land erosion, heat waves, tropical cyclones, intense rainfall, tornadoes, drought, storm surges, salinity intrusion, etc. which cause loss of livestock, damage to pasturelands, increase fodder scarcity, destroyed shelters, decreased production, increased management costs to incidence of diseases, etc. in Bangladesh.
Climate change means that many natural disaster-prone areas will become more prone due to increased frequency and intensity of disasters. Drought-prone areas will become hotter and drier, with less predictable rainfall; flood frequency and intensity along onset and recession will be changed in future; the nature of cyclone and storm surges will be different from the historical trend. All of these together will change crop yields and affect many poor peoples livelihoods. Agriculture yields have been decreased and cropping pattern has been changed in recent years. Adverse impacts of climate change are likely to reduce availability and deteriorate quality of water for domestic use. Moreover, climate change is likely to increase the prevalence and infection of vector- and water-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, cholera and dysentery, etc.
Degradation of biodiversity will reduce the availability of many traditional medicines which may affect poor and rural people who depend more on natural resources for medicine as well as income and food. Sea level rise (SLR) will drastically affect the poor people who are in coastal area and flood plain zone in Bangladesh. However, many actions undertaken to address the baseline or contextual risks in Bangladesh are also synergistic with the so-called adaptations that might be required as climate change impacts manifest themselves.
Bangladesh is one of the climate-vulnerable countries in the world due to its unfavourable geographical location. Vulnerability is greatly increased by flat and low-lying land, population density, high poverty rates, dependence of many livelihoods on climate-sensitive sectors, particularly agriculture and fisheries, and inefficient institutional arrangements.
Adverse effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels, higher temperatures, increased seasonal rainfall and increased intensity of cyclones, will exacerbate existing problems that are already hampering Bangladeshs development. In addition, adverse environmental conditions in countries with large populations reduce water and food security. These effects can be very harmful for the countrys economy, environment, national development and people
Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Population density and inadequate infrastructure are putting the nation at risk of these disasters. Also, with an economy dependent on agriculture, adverse weather conditions are greatly endangering the livelihood of common people. By 2050, the temperature of Bangladesh is expected to increase by about 1.5 degrees Celsius. Between 2040 and 2059, climatologists predict that annual precipitation could increase by 74 millimetres.
Consequently, as climate change conditions intensify, more people will be driven from their homes and land. Sea level rise, storms, cyclones, droughts, erosion, landslides and floods have already displaced large numbers of people. Mankind is at the pinnacle of development but is slowly moving towards the brink of destruction due to global warming. This situation is mainly created by humans. Now it has taken a terrible shape. There is no doubt that this problem, if not kept in balance, will be the cause of the destruction of the present civilization.
In this situation, we all have to be aware to prevent climate change, we all have to come forward. We must save this endangered world. Let us all protect this beautiful world and make it liveable.
The writer is a Deputy Director (finance and budget), Non-government Teachers, Employee Retirement Benefit Board, Ministry of Education
