Staff Reporter :
Indicating increased temperature and rainfall disparity as major concerns, the International Organization for Migration [IOM] on Sunday said that climate change effects so far have displaced around 60 lakh people from their homes in Bangladesh.
Revealing the findings of a latest study conducted by Displacement Solutions in Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal; the IOM further said the climate change is now adversely ‘affecting the lives and livelihoods of Bangladeshis’.
The study report was presented at a Regional Dissemination Meeting, titled: “Assessing the Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Migration Nexus in South Asia”, held in the city’s Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
The report was prepared conducting survey on 320 families in four upazilas of Khulna, Patuakhali, Rajshahi and Sunamganj districts by a research team under the supervision of Md Golam Rabbani, lead consultant of Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies.
Issuing caution, the report said the climate change and environmental degradation would further contribute to the movement of people living in this region.
It said: “Country’s costal districts are very vulnerable to cyclones, storm surges, tidal floods, salinity intrusion and sea level rise. On the other hand, the north and north-east regions are susceptible to drought, flashfloods and riverine floods, making people’s lives difficult.”
Referring to the research Md Golam Rabbani said: “Ninety-two percent respondents felt the impacts of internal migration have made the women
more vulnerable as male members of their families go for work outside their own districts.”
In another report prepared by Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre [IDMC], said around 9.6 million people of Bangladesh will migrate between 2011 and 2050 due to climatic affects. The number of displaced persons would be excluding temporary and seasonal migrations.
Against this backdrop, Md Golam Rabbani said: “As an impact of sudden-onset disasters, over 19 million people across the world were displaced internally in 2015. Of the total, 7.9 million or 41 percent were from South Asian countries.”
Besides, eminent climate expert and former vice chancellor of BRAC University Professor Ainun Nishat said: “To get the solution of the problem, alternative livelihoods for the affected people must be ensured as feel discouraged for the migration.”
It is to be noted that, Bangladesh is widely recognized as one of the most vulnerable countries to cyclone storms and constant flooding. Since 2000, the country has experienced more than 70 major natural disasters.
Experts say, one-fifth of the country is flooded every year, and in some years, up to two-thirds of the land mass is inundated. Weather-related disasters due to climate change each year cause outbreak of diseases, including diarrhea, that kills many children under 5 years of age.
Not only that, an Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] report had claimed that a one meter rise in sea level would inundate some 13 per cent of land mass in the southern belt, displacing some 15-20 million people by 2050.
At the same time, the World Bank had estimated that by then half of all Bangladeshis will live in urban centers. These findings also had suggested a possible correlation between climate change and the rapid growth of urbanization in Bangladesh.
For Bangladesh, the current growth rate of urban population is 4.8 per cent per year. Major metropolitan areas saw population expand from 1.6 million in 1974 to 20.15 million in 1991. By 2001 this had risen to 23.1 million and by 2006 to 35 million.
In this context, the urban population may reach about 68 million, or 37 per cent of the total population, by 2015. And obviously, it will be an adverse impact of climate change, the experts say.
Indicating increased temperature and rainfall disparity as major concerns, the International Organization for Migration [IOM] on Sunday said that climate change effects so far have displaced around 60 lakh people from their homes in Bangladesh.
Revealing the findings of a latest study conducted by Displacement Solutions in Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal; the IOM further said the climate change is now adversely ‘affecting the lives and livelihoods of Bangladeshis’.
The study report was presented at a Regional Dissemination Meeting, titled: “Assessing the Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Migration Nexus in South Asia”, held in the city’s Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
The report was prepared conducting survey on 320 families in four upazilas of Khulna, Patuakhali, Rajshahi and Sunamganj districts by a research team under the supervision of Md Golam Rabbani, lead consultant of Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies.
Issuing caution, the report said the climate change and environmental degradation would further contribute to the movement of people living in this region.
It said: “Country’s costal districts are very vulnerable to cyclones, storm surges, tidal floods, salinity intrusion and sea level rise. On the other hand, the north and north-east regions are susceptible to drought, flashfloods and riverine floods, making people’s lives difficult.”
Referring to the research Md Golam Rabbani said: “Ninety-two percent respondents felt the impacts of internal migration have made the women
more vulnerable as male members of their families go for work outside their own districts.”
In another report prepared by Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre [IDMC], said around 9.6 million people of Bangladesh will migrate between 2011 and 2050 due to climatic affects. The number of displaced persons would be excluding temporary and seasonal migrations.
Against this backdrop, Md Golam Rabbani said: “As an impact of sudden-onset disasters, over 19 million people across the world were displaced internally in 2015. Of the total, 7.9 million or 41 percent were from South Asian countries.”
Besides, eminent climate expert and former vice chancellor of BRAC University Professor Ainun Nishat said: “To get the solution of the problem, alternative livelihoods for the affected people must be ensured as feel discouraged for the migration.”
It is to be noted that, Bangladesh is widely recognized as one of the most vulnerable countries to cyclone storms and constant flooding. Since 2000, the country has experienced more than 70 major natural disasters.
Experts say, one-fifth of the country is flooded every year, and in some years, up to two-thirds of the land mass is inundated. Weather-related disasters due to climate change each year cause outbreak of diseases, including diarrhea, that kills many children under 5 years of age.
Not only that, an Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] report had claimed that a one meter rise in sea level would inundate some 13 per cent of land mass in the southern belt, displacing some 15-20 million people by 2050.
At the same time, the World Bank had estimated that by then half of all Bangladeshis will live in urban centers. These findings also had suggested a possible correlation between climate change and the rapid growth of urbanization in Bangladesh.
For Bangladesh, the current growth rate of urban population is 4.8 per cent per year. Major metropolitan areas saw population expand from 1.6 million in 1974 to 20.15 million in 1991. By 2001 this had risen to 23.1 million and by 2006 to 35 million.
In this context, the urban population may reach about 68 million, or 37 per cent of the total population, by 2015. And obviously, it will be an adverse impact of climate change, the experts say.
