Hockey Stick Graph
United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Can We Feed Ourselves?
Photo essay about the challenges the natural world faces as a result of human activity

Career Interview

Juniper Neill
speaks about her work on environmental issues in the US Foreign Service

Maps

Bangladesh Political Map

Bangladesh Elevation Map

Global Warming
Pew Center for Global Climate Change

What You Can Do ClimateCrisis.net

Global Warming FAQ
Union of Concerned Scientists

Photo: Md. Asif Ali

Bangladesh's close ties to the sea shielded it from one of the worst natural disasters in history: the tsunami that devastated countries along the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004. Bangladesh’s coast, which had been built up by river sediments flowing into the Bay of Bengal, absorbed the incoming tidal wave. While almost 200,000 people perished in surrounding countries, the tsunami claimed only two lives in Bangladesh.

Get the Facts

carbon dioxide – an atmospheric gas and the most powerful greenhouse gas. It is composed of one part carbon and two parts oxygen and is emitted when fossil fuels, such as oil, gas, and coal are burned.

converge – to come together; meet

delta – a flat plain at the mouth of a river

developing country – a country with a low standard of living

emission – something that is released

glacier – a large body or river of ice that never completely melts, but moves up and down hillsides, spreading into valleys. Glaciers are the largest storehouses of fresh water and area found on every continent on Earth.

global climate change – increasing worldwide temperatures caused by the sharp accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

greenhouse gases – gases that accumulate in the atmosphere and redirect radiation back to the planet’s surface, insulating and warming the Earth. Carbon dioxide is the most powerful greenhouse gas.

internally displaced person (IDP) – someone who is forced from their home by natural or man-made causes but stays within their country (as opposed to refugees, who are forced to leave their country)

malleable – easily changed or molded

mangrove – a tropical tree that forms dense forests and unique ecosystems along coasts

monsoon – winds and heavy rains that seasonally hit southern Asia

per capita – by each person.

reforestation – replanting of trees to rebuild forests

sediments – materials like stones, sands, and other deposits that are placed by water

typhoon – a hurricane or tropical cyclone

Unfortunately, however, it is precisely this topography that makes Bangladesh particularly vulnerable to the effects of global climate change. If these environmental effects converge with the country’s high population and widespread poverty, they will create a perfect storm of disaster.

Bangladesh lies on a flat, alluvial plain. It is neighbored by India on three sides, while its southern border dissolves into the Bay of Bengal. Two mighty rivers, the Ganges and the Bramaputra, flow through Bangladesh and fan out like tassels into the bay. This low delta and its beautiful mangrove islands are constantly transforming and shifting with typhoons, rains, and dry periods.

The soft, malleable coast is vulnerable to rising seas. Even if greenhouse gas emissions were to stop today, scientists believe that warming already underway will cause seas to rise between one and two inches over the next century. If nothing is done to curb emissions, sea levels could climb more than three feet. If this happens, 15% of Bangladesh could be under water. The mangrove forests of the low-lying Sundarban islands, a world heritage site, as well as the Bengal tiger and hundreds of bird species may disappear.

Mounting sea levels and loss of land will also create human disasters and dilemmas. Where will the tens of millions of internally displaced people go and how will they live? What will they drink when salt water contaminates fresh water supplies? Who will provide health care to combat the diseases that are sure to spread?

Photo: Md. Asif Ali

Bangladesh’s food supply is already threatened by flooding due to melting glaciers in some areas and droughts due to heat in others. Moreover, the typhoons and monsoons that routinely pummel Bangladesh are intensifying because of climate change.

Life in Bangladesh is already harsh. Bangladesh’s dense population may give a glimpse into the future elsewhere. In an overpopulated Earth, millions of people may have no choice but to live on the fringes of habitable environments. This in turn can severely increase the human toll of environmental disasters.

Environmental issues can also fuel violence and political change. When India and Pakistan split in 1947, Bangladesh was joined with Muslim Pakistan. Separated by the entire country of India, the long-distance marriage did not last. The poor response to a typhoon in 1970 added to the Bengali's frustration with the government in West Pakistan. The Bengalis revolted and, after a bloody war and the help of India, won independence from Pakistan. Might environmental pressures brought on by global warming enflame new political unrest?

Possible solutions, such as water storage, reforestation, and shelters, are expensive and difficult. Who should pay for disaster prevention and relief? Bangladesh is poor and contributes only a miniscule amount of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming. The United States emits more carbon dioxide than any other nation—both in total and per capita. It is also the world’s wealthiest nation. China and India, both developing countries, emit the second and fourth-most carbon dioxide overall, but their per capita emissions are small. Should they chip in? Does India, as Bangladesh’s neighbor, have a special obligation to intervene?

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and revealed the divide between the haves and have-nots in the United States. The extreme effects of global warming in Bangladesh may expose the even deeper chasm between rich and poor nations. What are the risks, not only to the Bangladeshis, but also to the rest of the world, if warnings of the impending storm are ignored?

Copyright 2006. Author: Heather Clydesdale