7.1 Quake Hits Indonesia 1200 Houses Gutted in Thakurgaon Fire 200 More in Eight Other Districts

Daily Media Monitoring on Disaster and Climate Change Issues: Bangladesh Context

Date: 07th April, 2013

7.1 quake hits Indonesia A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit a remote part of eastern Indonesia yesterday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, an official said. The temblor struck about 75 km underground in Papua province, according to US Geological Survey. The quake was felt across many parts of Papua, including the capital Jayapura and the copper town of Timika and Wamena, another town in the mountains, he said. Residents ran from their houses in panic, and many remained outside fearing aftershocks. http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/7-1-quake-hits-indonesia/

1200 houses gutted in Thakurgaon fire 200 more in eight other districts

Fire guts at least 20 houses belonging to 25 families at Bhuiyanpara village in Gopalganj Sadar upazila. Photo: Star/ Focus Bangla

Over 1,400 dwelling houses were reduced to ashes in fire incidents in nine districts yesterday and the day before. Of the houses, 1,200 were destroyed in Thakurgaon, 81 in Kushtia, 45 in Madaripur, 35 in Gopalganj, 19 in Pabna, 18 in Chuadanga, 13 in Madaripur, six in Pirojpur, and five in Bagerhat districts, according to our correspondents. In Thakurgaon, a devastating fire gutted at least 1,200

The disaster management vision of the Government of Bangladesh is to reduce the risk of people, especially the poor and the disadvantaged from the effects of natural, environmental and human induced hazards to a manageable and acceptable humanitarian level and to have in place an efficient emergency response management system.

Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP II) Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief Disaster Management and Relief Bhaban (6th Floor), 92-93 Mohakhali C/A, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh Tel: +880 2 989 0937; 882 1255; 882 1459, Fax: +880 2 989 0854, Email: [email protected]; Web: www.cdmp.org.bd houses at Modhupur village in Baliadangi upazila yesterday afternoon. Police, upazila administration and fire brigade sources said the fire originated from an earthen oven at the house of one Haba at around 3:00pm and soon spread to the village. Being informed, fire fighters from Baliadangi and Thakurgaon fire service units rushed to the village and extinguished the blaze after five hours of frantic efforts. Officer-in-Charge of Baliadangi Police Station Md Asaduzzaman and Chairman of Charol Union Parishad Md Nur Nabi told this correspondent that the fire destroyed 1,200 thatched and tin-roofed houses belonging to around 250 families. District administration has allotted 30Kg of rice for each of the affected families. Upazila administrations sought help from NGOs and well-off people for the fire victims. In Kushtia, at least 81 houses were gutted in separate incidents of fire in Bheramara, Khoksa, Daulatpur and Kumarkhali upazilas on Friday. Fire Brigade sources said fire engulfed 15 houses at Patuakandi village under Bheramara upazila, 55 houses at Pakuria village under Daulatpur upazila, six houses at Shimulia village under Khoksa upazila and five houses at Banshgram under Kumarkhali of the district on Friday. Fire fighting units from the respective upazila headquarters rushed to the villages and tamed the flames with the help of locals.

Five houses of a family in flames at Noapara village in Fakirhat upazila of Bagerhat yesterday. Photo: Star/ Focus Bangla

In Chuadanga, at least 18 houses at Sumirdia village in Damurhuda upazila and 10 houses at Mrigimari village in Jibonnagar upazila were gutted in fire incidents on Friday. In Meherpur, separate fire incidents destroyed at least 13 houses at Juginda and Karamdi village in the district on the same day. Locals said both fires originated from electric short circuits and soon engulfed the adjoining dwelling houses at the two villages. Fire fighters with the help of locals doused the flames. Fire engulfed at least 35 houses at Chandradigulia village under Gopalganj Sadar upaazila yesterday noon. Fire service sources said the fire originated from an oven at the kitchen of Royes Khan of the village and soon spread to 35 adjoining houses. Being informed, fire fighting unit from the district headquarters went to the spot and extinguished the blaze after two hours of frantic efforts. In Madaripur, at least 45 houses were gutted in two incidents of fire at Umedpur and Banshkandi villages under Shibchar upazila on Friday. Of the houses, 37 were destroyed at Umedpur while the rest

Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP II) Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief Disaster Management and Relief Bhaban (6th Floor), 92-93 Mohakhali C/A, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh Tel: +880 2 989 0937; 882 1255; 882 1459, Fax: +880 2 989 0854, Email: [email protected]; Web: www.cdmp.org.bd at Banshkandi. Upazila Parishad Chairman Rezaul Karim visited the villages. He urged the local administration to help the affected people. In Pabna, Separate incidents of fire destroyed at least 19 houses at four villages in Sadar and Atghoria upazilas yesterday. The affected villages are Gangcula and Ranigram in Pabna Sadar upazila and Srikantapur and Bisrhmpur in Atghoria upazila. Three cattle were burnt alive during the fire incidents. Fife fighting units from the district and upazila headquarters doused the fires with the help of local people. In Pirojpur, fire engulfed at least six houses at Lahuri village under Zianagar upazila on Friday afternoon. Locals said the fire originated from the kitchen of one Aziz of the village and soon spread to six adjacent houses. In Bagerhat, At least five houses were burnt to ashes in a fire that broke at Noapara in Fakirhat upazila yesterday. Fire Brigade sources said the fire originated from an electric short-circuit at the house of one Syeed Sumon at noon and soon engulfed the four adjacent houses. http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/1200-houses-gutted-in-thakurgaon-fire/

Fire destroys betel leaves on 100 bighas in 2 dists

A devastating fire destroys betel leaves on around 90 bighas of land at Patuakandi village in Bheramara upazila of Kushtia on Friday. Photo shows fire-damaged betel plants in a garden at the village. Photo: Star

Betel leaves on around 100 bighas of land were destroyed by two incidents of fire in Kushtia and Chuadanga district on Friday, causing damage worth around Tk 1.5 crore. In Kushtia, betel leaves on 90 bighas of land were gutted in a fire at Patuakandi village in in Bheramara upazila at around 4:00pm. Locals said the fire originated from the garden of one Akhter of the village and soon engulfed the adjacent gardens. The affected farmers estimated the loss caused by the fire at around Tk 1crore. Mohammad Rajibul Islam of Bheramara Fire Service Station told this correspondent that the fire might have originated from the butt of a cigarette. But locals said the fire might have originated from the kitchen of one Fahim Ahmed of the village and then spread to the nearby garden of Akhter. Being informed, fire fighting units from Bheramara and Daulatpur upazilas rushed to the village and extinguished the blaze. Syed Belal Hossain, deputy commissioner (DC) of Kushtia, and Bheramara Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Azad Zahan visited the spot yesterday

Global warming will change the world by 2100 Zeeshan Hasan

What will the world look like in the year 2100? Climate scientists are now able to answer a substantial part of this question, and the projections they have for us are unsettling. Yet few people are aware of the findings of climate science due to an immense smokescreen of doubt which the fossil fuel lobby has raised around global warming research. These issues are dealt with in Global Warming and Political Intimidation: How Politicians Cracked Down on Scientists as The Earth Heated Up by Raymond S. Bradley (published by University of Massachusetts Press in 2010). Bradley is Distinguished Professor of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the United States.

Our modern world runs mainly on fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas; burning these produces carbon dioxide, which traps heat from the sun and causes global warming. But whether or not human carbon dioxide emissions had actually produced real man-made global warming was a matter of debate among scientists for decades. In 1998, Bradley and his co-researchers published their 'hockey-stick graph' which depicted a 1,000-year decrease in average world temperatures, which was suddenly reversed in the 20th century. The only explanation for the sudden warming shown in the hockey stick was post-Industrial Revolution global warming. The 'hockey-stick graph' effectively proved that burning of coal, oil and gas has already changed the planet, and is changing it further as you read this article.

The publication of the 'hockey-stick graph' set off a tsunami of activity among the lobbyists of the fossil fuel industry. In the US, Congressman Joe Barton of Texas, who was on record as having received over half a million dollars from the fossil fuel industry during his 2004 Congressional race, launched a government-led witch-hunt, accusing Bradley and his co-researchers of fraud. Fortunately, other members of the US Congress opposed this blatantly political attack on science. However, attempts to discredit Bradley and his research continued; in 2009, hackers stole e-mails from the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in the UK in an incident dubbed 'Climate-gate' by the press. An army of right-wing bloggers, journalists and other supporters of the fossil-fuel industry claimed that in one of the emails, another climate scientist had admitted that Bradley and his co-researchers had used a 'trick' to 'hide the decline' in world temperature, and that the research was therefore false. Numerous academic enquiries were launched against Bradley and his co-researchers; ultimately none found any wrongdoing on their part or mistakes in their work. However, widespread coverage of the Climate-gate email hacking had already served to discredit climate science and global warming in the public eye. Though based entirely on false accusations, Climate-gate contributed to the failure of international climate talks on carbon emissions.

What are the findings of climate scientists that the fossil fuel industry has tried so hard to discredit? The original 1997 'hockey-stick graph' only analysed historical temperatures over the previous 1000 years. In his book, Bradley gives an extended 'hockey-stick graph' to predict world temperatures until the year 2100, given below.

As visible from the graph, at projected carbon dioxide emissions, the world can be expected to heat up by about 3.0 degrees C by 2100. This is probably enough to melt the Greenland ice cap, raising sea levels by about 80 feet (25 metres). Such sea level rise would submerge Bangladesh and most coastal cities in the world, including New York, Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Mumbai, Kolkata and Shanghai. Food will be more expensive and famines more common as parts of Asia and Africa will become too hot for farming.

Projected change in global temperature (2000-2100) compared to in strumentally recorded temperatures from 1860 to 2000, and the reconstructed temperatures of the northern hemisphere for the period A.D. 1000 to A.D. 1860. How likely is this quantity of carbon dioxide to be emitted? Bradley gives details: "The projected temperatures are from the future scenario... which envisions carbon dioxide emissions rising to 16 billion metric tons by 2050... then declining to 13 billion by 2100... This is a ¨middle of the road¨ estimate compared to the range of scenarios considered by the IPCC." — Global Warming and Political Intimidation: How Politicians Cracked Down on Scientists as The Earth Heated Up (Page 139) 'Middle of the road' actually means that the above is an optimistic projection; it assumes that sizable reductions will be made in carbon dioxide emissions over the next few decades. So far, none of these reductions has been made, and emissions are still going up. Unless real action is taken quickly, the above projection may well be a best-case scenario. The only way to improve on this outcome is to quickly replace coal, oil and gas with solar, wind and nuclear power. Anyone who wishes to see a better future for his/her children and grandchildren needs to pressure the government to that end. The author is a graduate of Harvard and LSE, and his other climate change articles are at his blog, www.goodbyebangladesh. blogspot.com [email protected] http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/index.php?ref=MjBfMDRfMDdfMTNfMV85Ml8xNjU2NjI=

Three burnt alive in Rangpur

People roam devastated homesteads after a fire razed down about 75 houses at Syedpur in Nilphamari on Saturday. — Focusbangla photo Three persons including two minor girls were burnt alive and huge property was burnt in separate fire incidents in Rangpur Friday and Saturday, official and local sources said. Mahfuzar Rahman, 25, son

Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP II) Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief Disaster Management and Relief Bhaban (6th Floor), 92-93 Mohakhali C/A, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh Tel: +880 2 989 0937; 882 1255; 882 1459, Fax: +880 2 989 0854, Email: [email protected]; Web: www.cdmp.org.bd of Abbas Ali was burnt alive and houses of Motiar Rahman, Abdul Mazed and Masudar Rahman were burnt in a fire at Tapodhan village under Rangpur City Corporation early Saturday. Originating from unidentified sources, the fire soon engulfed four adjoining houses when the inhabitants were in deep sleep, burnt cows, goats, furniture, paddy, rice, wheat, clothes and everything burning Mahfuzar to death before the fire service personnel reached there. Officials of Rangpur unit of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society led by its Secretary Shah Md Nabiullah Panna, Project Implementation officer of Sadar upazila Abdul Matin, RCC councilors Anwarul Islam and Rubi Begum visited the spot. The officials and public representatives also distributed Tk 20,000 in cash among the affected family of Tk 2,000 to each on behalf of the government on emergency basis. The BDRCS officials distributed blankets and tarpaulins among the victim families and the district administration have taken steps for rehabilitation through providing more assistance for rebuilding their damaged houses. Minor girl Hur-E Zannat, 4, daughter of Abdul Kader and her cousin Risha Moni, 4, daughter of Enamul Haque of Khiarpara village under Mithapukur upazila were burnt alive at the house of their grandmother Abeda Begum on Friday afternoon. Both the victim babies were playing inside a room when the inmates were out the house. http://www.newagebd.com/detail.php?date=2013-04-07&nid=45380#.UWDrSTcazKE

http://ittefaq.com.bd/index.php?ref=MjBfMDRfMDdfMTNfMV8yNV8xXzMxODAy

------

Compiled By: Shahin Hasnain Rumi, Programme Assistant, CDMP II Overall Supervision: Shaila Shahid, Communications Specialist, CDMP II

"This media briefing is a courtesy service of the Disaster Management Information Centre (DMIC) with the technical support of Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP II). The summary is meant to provide cursory preview. DMIC and CDMP are not in any way responsible for the content itself. Readers are encouraged to directly access the original news items through the provided links in case of any clarification."

The Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (Phase II) is a five year initiative (2010- 2014) designed to strengthen the national capacity to reduce risk and to improve response to and recovery from the impacts of disasters and climate change in Bangladesh to an acceptable humanitarian level. For further information visit: www.cdmp.org.bd