Global Warming Induced Extreme Weather Conditions and the Threats to Livelihoods in the Bay of Bengal Delta

Abstract

While the nations of the Bay of Bengal delta have been making progress in the early part of the 21st century, there have emerged new challenges. The most important among these is global warming and its impacts on the livelihoods of millions in the delta. It is now widely recognised that the South Asia region, in general, and the coastal belt of the Bay of Bengal (southern parts of Bangladesh, West Bengal and Orissa), in particular, would suffer heavily in socio-economic terms from global warming. The Copenhagen summit (COP15) in 2009 has identified Bangladesh as one of the most vulnerable countries (MVCs) in the region. Thus, the paper examines three major areas of weather and weather related extreme conditions: rainfall, temperature, and sea water surge due to cyclonic storm and sea-level rise. With this bleak picture in hand, the paper attempts to investigate extreme weather conditions in the Bangladesh part of the Bay of Bengal delta over 1960 and 2009. Using historical evidence, these conditions will be analysed and their impacts on agriculture and fisheries will be examined.