Bangladesh predicts that sea water could reach far inland, as many rivers are surrounded by low lying flood plains. As well as displacing those living in these areas, it would make it hard to cultivate such basic foods as rice.
The research comes as the Bangladesh Government appeals for £3 billion in aid over the next five years to combat climate change in the region. The study suggest that a surprisingly small amount of land will be permanently lost to rising sea levels, but perhaps the bigger threat is repeated Bangladesh floods every monsoon season, especially in the south west region.
A senior scientist on the study claims sea water could cause havoc for rice production in Bangladesh’s poorest regions.
“These are very poor people, and vulnerable. For four months they’ll have nowhere to work, So people will migrate to the cities for jobs, because of the uncomfortable situation with sea level rise. We are talking about 20 million people.”
According to Bangladesh monitoring stations, there has been an average of 5mm sea level rise per year for the past 30 years. Nearly half of the rice produced in Bangladesh is so call “monsoon” rice, much of which is grown in the areas most vulnerable to Bangladesh floods.
Bangladesh has been listed as one of the countries vulnerable to “extreme risk” from climate change over the next 100 years.
Britain’s Department for International Development is sponsoring farmers with new ideas such as gardens that float, and cultivating crabs and ducks instead of crops and chickens.
