The Impact of Climate Change in the Coastal Areas of Bangladesh Affected by Cyclone Bulbul

Bangladesh Journal of Extension Education ISSN 1011-3916 Volume 31, No. 1&2, 2019: 13-27 Research Article The Impact of Climate Change in the Coastal Areas of Bangladesh Affected by Cyclone Bulbul M.A. Haque1, M.A. Alam2, S.M. Moniruzzaman3 and M. M. Hoque4 Abstract Bangladesh is considered one of the country’s most at risk to the effects of climate change and its coastal area is most vulnerable. This study tries to explore the experiences of cyclone bulbul affected people living in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. This study was conducted in the cyclone Bulbul affected Shymnagar Upazila of Satkhira District. Primary data collection was done using Focus Group Discussion and then a thematic analysis approach was used for analysis. Five core themes emerged from the analysis and they are, firstly, demographic, socio-economic and livelihood of the respondent; secondly, perceptions and information about climate change and salinity; thirdly, salinity and water supply; fourthly, impact of salinity on living beings with special reference to human beings; and finally the adaptation in facing salinity intrusion (in soil and water resources) caused by climate change. Findings show that the impact of climate change has serious consequences on the livelihood patterns of the affected population and on their overall health status. As a result, a number of health’s related diseases have been identified in the research area due to salinity such as diarrhea, dysentery, high blood pressure, gastric, skin problems etc. It also impacts to agricultural crops, fisheries and biodiversity. The study focuses to identify the overall impacts of those sectors. The possible measures area selection of salt-tolerant crops, rain water harvesting, regular support from NGOs as well as government to maintain Pond Sand Filter (PSF), construction of Bank Sand Filter ( BSF), provide Reverse Osmosis ( RO) plants, exploring suitable layers for tube-wells. Key words: climate change; impact; coastal areas; Bangladesh; cyclone Bulbul. Introduction Climate change is one of the major global division until early dawn. (The Daily Star, challenges. Science has shown that recent 11 November, 2019) and the wind speed climate changes have had widespread was between 100 and 120 kph when the impacts on human and natural systems cyclone hit Sundarbans. However, it ((European Union, 2015). The long-term eventually weakened as it moved northeast. impacts of climate change are temperature (The Daily Star, 11 November, 2019). The rise due to global warming, sea-level rise, radio telegraphic signal Save our Souls salinity intrusion, drought, heat waves, cold (SOS) forms reveal that the cyclone hit waves, etc. Cyclone Bulbul entered coastal areas and heavily damaged the Bangladesh on 9 November, 2019 through district of Shatkhira where water logging the Sundarbans in Khulna around midnight, become the most prominent and visible after making landfall at Sagar Island in the damage. Other districts that suffered less southern part of India’s West Bengal. It severe damage included Potuakhali, then continued crossing Shatkhira and Bagerhat, Bhola, Borguna and Khulna. So adjoining South West part of Khulna far the cyclonic destruction resulted in the 1Assistant Professor , Department of Environment Science, The University of Comilla (UNIC), Uttara, Dhaka, 2Senior Scientific Officer, BJRI, 3Principal Scientific Officer, BJRI, Dhaka, and 4Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The University of Comilla (UNIC), Uttara, Dhaka 14 Bangladesh Journal of Extension Education loss of seventeen lives, out of which eleven studies by Devkota et al. (2014); people died from tress falling on them. The Kendrovski and Spasenovska (2011); cyclone also damaged houses, crops, fish Davies et al. (2009) and Bhuiyan and Khan enclosures and embankments. (The Daily (2011) also show how these groups are Star, 11 November, 2019). The coastal belt suffering from health problems because of of Bangladesh surface water resources, like climate change. In disaster times, children rivers, ponds and canals, are most and babies lack the capacity to escape from susceptible to contamination by saline water the hazard. In a study of 1991 Bangladesh intrusion (Abedin et al., 2014; Werner et cyclone, for example, children and older al., 2013). Climate change is liable for people died more disproportionately than intensifying this problem, which also has others in the population (Chowdhury et al., adverse health consequences, such as 1993). Bangladesh is considered to be greater prevalence of hypertension and highly vulnerable in the context of climate cardiovascular diseases (Hoque et al., change. It is frequently at the mercy of the 2016). High salt intake is a major risk factor forces of nature, especially water from the for increased blood pressure (Mustaris and sky, land, and sea (Kabir et al., 2014). The Karim, 2012). Approximately 20 million climatic conditions of Bangladesh are people in Bangladesh are at high risk of influenced by a number of global and hypertension due to the intrusion of saline regional scale factors. These factors include water caused by climate change (Rasheed, geographical location, the effect of North- et al, 2016). The financial life of coastal South continental scale atmospheric population has been affected by climate pressure gradient (terrestrial to oceanic), the change due to a lack of job opportunities, influence of the jet stream stretched from some families the heads of the households South East Asia to Northern Africa on the are leaving the village and migrating to monsoon wind system, changes in the solar different cities to maintain household albedo due to land use, land cover change in expenses (Russell et al., 2016). Similar the region and its impacts on wind pattern, findings are shown in another study by and fluctuations in the terrestrial and sea Guha-Sapir et al. 2006 where Tsunami surface temperature (Islam and Neelim, affected unemployment in Tamil Nadu. 2010). Cyclones and storm surges recently Climate change affected the livelihood became catastrophic events for the coastal pattern and job security of fishermen in people and indirectly for many people in the Coromandel Coast of New Zealand country. The recent cyclonic storm Bulbul (Srikanthan, 2013). The impact of climate has greatly affected farmers in Satkhira, change will be felt by different parts of the particularly those in Shyamnagar, Assasuni, world and by different people; poor Kaliganj, Sadar, and Tala upazilas, flooding countries like Bangladesh are going to be vast amount of fish enclosures and crops in worst hit. For example, research by Furberg its wake (Dhaka Tribune 15 November, et al., 2011 on Sami population shows that 2019) and 14% of the entire land harvested rapidly changing unstable weather patterns in the country was affected by the cyclone affect their living patterns. Furthermore, Bulbul (MoA, 12 November, 2019) and studies by Adebo and Sekumade (20130; Bangladesh lost Tk 263 crore in crop yield Adeniyi et al. (2013) and Guha-Sapir et al. in 16 districts from cyclonic storm Bulbul (2006) suggest that women and children that swashed across the country (MoA, 12 tend to be the worst affected. Additional November, 2019). According to the Global 15 The Impact of Climate Change in the Coastal Areas of Bangladesh Affected by Cyclone Bulbul Disaster Alert and Coordinating System Sea level rise caused by the rapid melting of (GDACS), around 3.56 million people in the glaciers, ice caps and other factors might districts of Barguna, Jhalokathi, Patuakhali, change both the geographic and topographic Pirojpur, Bagerhat ‘medium’ to ‘high’ and history of the country in the future. This Khulna and Satkhira district ‘high’ to study emphasizes observations on the ‘very high’ risks due to Cyclone Bulbul effects of climate change in the coastal (International Federation of Red Cross and areas of Bangladesh affected by cyclone Red Crescent Societies, 9 November, 2019). Bulbul. Considering the present situation of Farmers had to face serious problems as Shymnagar Upazila of Satkhira District the they were not prepared for such an event in main objectives were: a) to know the the affected areas. Recurrent ﬂoods with impacts of salinity intrusion on drinking increased intensity in the future under the water and crop production in the study area; changing climate system remains an b) to find out the impacts of salinity enormous challenge for the largest intrusion on fisheries and biodiversity. community and livelihoods of the country. Background of Coastal Zone of Bangladesh Coastal zone of Bangladesh is geomorphologically inundation, salinity intrusion and land erosion and hydrologically dominated by the Ganges are main the natural disasters (Iftekhar, Brahmaputra Meghna (GBM) river system and 2006; MoWR, 1999). The total amount of Bay of Bengal. The coastal zone of Bangladesh salinity affected land in Bangladesh was 83.3 covers an area of 47,201 km2, 32% of the million hectares in 1973, which had been country, being the landmass of 19 districts increased up to 102 million hectares in 2000 and (Figure 1) that are Jessore, Narail, Gopalganj, the amount has been raised to 105.6 million Shariatpur, Chandpur, Satkhira, Khulna, hectares in 2009 and continuing to increase Bagerhat, Pirozpur, Jhalakati, Barguna, (Mahmuduzzaman et al., 2014). With 50% of Barisal, Patuakhali, Bhola, Lakshmipur, the land less than 8 m above sea level, and a Noakhali, Feni, Chittagong, and Cox's Bazar coastline of some 600 km, coastal flooding is a (Abu et al., 2003). Depending on geographic common problem (Flooding Forecast, 2017). features, coastal zone of Bangladesh consists of Bangladesh is especially vulnerable to tropical three parts, (a) The eastern zone, (b) The central cyclones with around 718,000 deaths from them zone, (c) Western zone. Many of the coastal in the past 50 years (Ubydul et al., 2011). The inhabitants are poor, and the population is future vulnerability in the coastal region of exposed to both natural disasters and man- Bangladesh will be significantly higher than made hazards. Climate change driven events present condition (Uddin et al., 2018).

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