|
|
|
|
Bangladesh Sea Level
07/09/2002
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton and this is the Weather Notebook's weekly segment on global
climate change. A report by the United Nation's International Panel on Climate
Change warns that by the end of this century, a continued rise in the global
temperature could raise the sea level by as much as 1 meter, or 3.1 feet. For
countries like Bangladesh, where a large percentage of residents live in coastal areas,
such a shift could be devastating. Manisha Aryal reports.
Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with over 131
million people living on land that is smaller than the state of Iowa. Most residents live
in the coastal areas. Atiq Rahaman, chair of Climate Action Network, South
Asia.
AR: With a one meter in rise, about 20 percent of the coastal radius, 70 percent of the
countries population will be displaced and inundated. Now, that is serious
impact.
That means nearly fifty cities underwater and millions of residents displaced.
Resettling so many people would be difficult. Building dykes, as in the Netherlands,
could be one mitigation method. But, Rahaman says prohibitive costs and extreme
weather in Bangladesh could make such a plan impossible.
AR: If there is a two degree temperature rise then the glaciers will melt faster and
faster. More water will come in and we will not be able to get out because the level of
the sea has already risen and the gradient is very, very low. So, it will spread sideways
which means there will be inundation across Bangladesh and render any dykes
ineffective.
Rahaman says Bangladesh will only remain above water if the world's producers
commit to reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. For The Weather
Notebook, I'm Manisha Aryal in Bangladesh.
The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington observatory. The
series on global climate change is supported by the New England Science Center
Collaborate and Roy A. Hunt Foundation.
Today's Links
More
http://www.bangladeshonline.com/gob/flood98
|
|
