Bangladesh has 140 million people

From the Chicago Tribune:

Muhammad Ali, a wiry 65-year-old, has never driven a car, run an air conditioner or done much of anything that produces greenhouse gases. But on a warming planet, he is on the verge of becoming a climate refugee….

Bangladesh, which has 140 million people packed into an area a little smaller than Illinois, is one of the most vulnerable places to climate change. As the sea level slowly rises, this nation that is little more than a series of low-lying delta islands amid some of Asia’s mightiest rivers — the Ganges, Jamuna-Brahmaputra and Meghna — is seeing saltwater creep into its coastal soils and drinking water. Farmers near the Bay of Bengal who once grew rice now are raising shrimp.

Notorious for its deadly cyclones, Bangladesh is likely to face increasingly violent storms as the weather warms and see surging seas carry saltwater farther and farther up the country’s rivers, ruining soils, according to scientists.

Land disputes, many driven by erosion [caused by accelerating glacier melt and unusually heavy rains], now account for 77 percent of Bangladesh’s legal suits. In the dry northwest of the country, droughts are getting more severe. And if sea level rises by 3 feet by the turn of the century, as some scientists predict, a fifth of the country will disappear….

With so many huge rivers discharging into the ocean, the country couldn’t build dikes to hold back the sea even if it had the money, Rahman said. And though it has created virtually none of the pollution driving global warming, it is unlikely to receive the international assistance it needs to adapt to conditions created by others.

What that might mean for big polluting nations such as the United States, China and India is that “for every hundred thousand tons of carbon you emit, you have to take a Bangladeshi family,” Rahman said, only half joking. India already is building a fence along its border with Bangladesh….
Bangladesh’s government is doing what it can to prepare for coming hard times. With the help of non-profit organizations, it is testing new salt-resistant crops, building thousands of raised shelters to protect those in the path of cyclones and trying to elevate roads and bridges above rising rivers. Leaders who once insisted that the West created the problem and should clean it up “now accept we should prepare,” Nishat said.

The alternative could be ugly: insufficient food, a destabilized government, internal strife that could spread past the country’s borders, a massive exodus of climate refugees and more extremism, Rahman said.

“A person victimized and displaced will not sit idle,” he predicted. “There will be organized climate-displaced groups saying, ‘Why should you hang onto your place when I’ve lost mine and you’re the one who did this?’

“That,” he said, “is not a pleasant scenario.”

Note: while many scientists predict sea level rise of 3 feet by 2100, some mainstream scientists are predicting 3 feet by the third quarter of the century.

Bangladesh and sea level
Bangladesh and sea level

Dhaka, Bangladesh - Dhaka and its metropolitan area have a population of 11 million
Dhaka, Bangladesh – Dhaka and its metropolitan area have a population of 11 million

14 Responses to “Bangladesh has 140 million people”

  1. afzal says:

    please help them

  2. Mushtaq Ahmed says:

    The organisation call world Passport should be issued to all Bangladeshi people and allow them to live anywhere in the world without any obligation. Bangladesh govt should request U.N to mass migration to less densly populated country Like Canada, Australia, America, Africa.

    Govt should float a share for people and raise capital for building Damn, and bariers in low land and build like Holland and other country. Get the Example Euro tunnel.

    Mush
    London

  3. Anonymous says:

    “mass migration to less densly populated country Like Canada, Australia, America, Africa. ” — You will make all these places Bangladesh

  4. Scott says:

    A little discussion about birth control would be helpful – if they can’t help themselves, why make it someone else’s problem?

  5. azer34 says:

    Mass migration does not solve the problem….that is the weakest solution i have ever heard. Going to Africa is not a good solution….they do not have a lot of water there to support a larger population. Migration to other countries will just put pressure on those countries but the issue of climate change will not be solved

  6. Noton says:

    Bangladesh, the lucky country for the 140 million people; she will make them “liability into resource” and spread out them all over the world where they work with dignity and integrity. So, Bangladesh will laugh and live long with her soverignity.

  7. KDamjanovic says:

    You know, it looks like a rough place to live, but have any of you ever thought maybe they like their country? look at America, we are over populated as it is, the economy is shit right now, and believe it or not; not all of us would want to under go mass migration, why? Because we love our country and are damn proud of it. Everyone every where has pride over their country may it be America or even Bangladesh, for a U.S. citizen the above shown conditions may not be ideal for us, but everyone has their own drum and their own beat!

  8. k says:

    Thanks

  9. saidul says:

    I am supper in bangladesh crisess. Europian people should be help us.we should be consider to settle in euoripan country and europian comunity also try to understand. some are any how come europe and illegal stay. they should consider to us.

  10. fehasan says:

    immigration systems of the third world country should be easier for the citizen of bangladesh.
    Rich people who lead their life very luxurious, should cut something of their cost of livings to donate for the vulnerable people.

  11. badger says:

    The situation in Bangladesh is very sad but Europe did not create the cyclones, they were hitting this country long before climate change became an issue.

    Regarding immigration.
    Many parts of Europe are overpopulated, people cannot find work and have problems paying their bills, what use would it be to bring in people who will need jobs and places to live that DO NOT exist. This will just create resentment and cause unrest in Europe.

    What’s the answer? I don’t know. I do think though that the government has to continue it’s building programmes and perhaps should get some international aid, I also think more needs to be done to control the birth rate, not just in Bangladesh but worldwide, we know the planet cannot support a continual growth in population.

    Why is it that India, which is just next door, does not seem interested in helping Bangladesh?

  12. milon says:

    I love Bangladesh, I love my people as i love my mother. There is no country like bangaldesh where we can live wiht peace and unlimited happiness. People who cannot convert their problem to prospect they should upgragrade their mind and to have faith on their own resources.Please depend on yourself not to others.

  13. Md.Monir Hussain says:

    I love Bangladesh, I love my people as i love my mother. I,m proud cos, my birth in Bangladesh.So tahnks Bangladesh.

  14. Royal says:

    very important topic……….thanks