Danger from sea level rise

A process of facilitated adaptation mechanism should be implemented to give disaster prone farmers means for survival and adaptation

While releasing its annual report 2016, the country’s one of the most prestigious NGO, BRAC, mentioned that some 27 million people were “predicted to be at risk” due to sea-level rise in Bangladesh by 2050. Not only two-thirds of the country is less than five metres above sea level, but also incidence of floods with more damaging patterns is increasingly destroying homes, croplands and fast demolishing our various infrastructures.

Moreover, approximately 10,000 hectares of land are lost every year due to riverbank erosion resulting in shrinking of agricultural land by one percent annually. However, from incessant rains to flooded rice fields, the economic impact of global warming has been keenly felt, at least in this year’s repeated environmental setbacks. Instead of getting panicked, it is urgently necessary to increase awareness campaigns throughout the country. Coupled with the government initiatives we also have to create newer coping strategies to address the rising sea level.

In the face of a steady 1.2 percent population growth, demand for food is also rising, and regular loss of land due to environmental disasters induced by climate change will automatically lead to food shortage. More specifically, rising sea water is wreaking havoc in our coastal localities. Data from the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level show that sea level in south-western Bangladesh increased by roughly 7 millimetres per year from 1980 to 2003, well above the global average of 3 millimetres.

The point, however, is how seriously we are taking the challenges right now. We surely have the government’s concerned ministry, NGOs and other stakeholders to tackle the situation, but there is a clear lack of coordinated approaches. Additionally, a process of facilitated adaptation mechanism should be implemented to give disaster prone farmers means for surviving and adapting and providing education and skills for their children. Part of the education should also incorporate lessons on becoming more resilient to climate change.  

In the face of growing climactic threats the local communities of our country have become more resilient despite all odds. The picture is not all too bleak, since a number of joint efforts are implementing Community Climate Change Projects (CCCP) through 41 competitively selected local NGOs.

These groups are reported to have raise homes to prevent daily inundation, help residents find climate-adaptive alternative livelihoods, support harvesting and storing of safe freshwater, perform desalination in water-scarcevillages while adapting agricultural practices to farm drought-resistant or flood-tolerant crops. However, it is important to broaden the length and breadth of these projects.

Danger from sea level rise

A process of facilitated adaptation mechanism should be implemented to give disaster prone farmers means for survival and adaptation

While releasing its annual report 2016, the countrys one of the most prestigious NGO, BRAC, mentioned that some 27 million people were predicted to be at risk due to sea-level rise in Bangladesh by 2050. Not only two-thirds of the country is less than five metres above sea level, but also incidence of floods with more damaging patterns is increasingly destroying homes, croplands and fast demolishing our various infrastructures. Moreover, approximately 10,000 hectares of land are lost every year due to riverbank erosion resulting in shrinking of agricultural land by one percent annually. However, from incessant rains to flooded rice fields, the economic impact of global warming has been keenly felt, at least in this years repeated environmental setbacks. Instead of getting panicked, it is urgently necessary to increase awareness campaigns throughout the country. Coupled with the government initiatives we also have to create newer coping strategies to address the rising sea level. In the face of a steady 1.2 percent population growth, demand for food is also rising, and regular loss of land due to environmental disasters induced by climate change will automatically lead to food shortage. More specifically, rising sea water is wreaking havoc in our coastal localities. Data from the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level show that sea level in south-western Bangladesh increased by roughly 7 millimetres per year from 1980 to 2003, well above the global average of 3 millimetres. The point, however, is how seriously we are taking the challenges right now. We surely have the governments concerned ministry, NGOs and other stakeholders to tackle the situation, but there is a clear lack of coordinated approaches. Additionally, a process of facilitated adaptation mechanism should be implemented to give disaster prone farmers means for surviving and adapting and providing education and skills for their children. Part of the education should also incorporate lessons on becoming more resilient to climate change. In the face of growing climactic threats the local communities of our country have become more resilient despite all odds. The picture is not all too bleak, since a number of joint efforts are implementing Community Climate Change Projects (CCCP) through 41 competitively selected local NGOs. These groups are reported to have raise homes to prevent daily inundation, help residents find climate-adaptive alternative livelihoods, support harvesting and storing of safe freshwater, perform desalination in water-scarcevillages while adapting agricultural practices to farm drought-resistant or flood-tolerant crops. However, it is important to broaden the length and breadth of these projects.