Flooding in Bangladesh will increase by up to 40% this century as global temperatures rise. Each year, about 1/5 of Bangladesh floods. As global warming increases, sea levels will rise, monsoons become wetter and more intense cyclones will lead to higher tides. Bangladesh is flood-prone because it lies in the delta of three rivers: the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. People can grow crops on the land because it is regularly fertilized by nutrient-laden silt from the rivers. But extreme floods are part of life as well, and in 1988 and 1998, over 2/3 of the country was under water at some time.
Water resources expert Monirul Qader Mirza fed weather data into a computer and discovered that a temperature increase of only a few degrees will increase the flow of the Meghna and Brahmaputra rivers by 20%. There will also be a big increase in deeply flooded land, that?s covered in several feet of water for 9 months of the year, reducing the land available to grow crops.
Ever since it gained independence from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh has been a country filled with environmental disasters and frequent famine. In the future, it may be a country that no longer exists.
Learn the truth about what will happen in Earth’s future climate.
NOTE: This news story, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.
Subscribers, to watch the subscriber version of the video, first log in then click on Dreamland Subscriber-Only Video Podcast link.