WE ARE ALL WITNESSES - PEOPLE IN A CHANGING CLIMATE
The 24 panels of the "We are all witnesses - People in a Changing Climate" exhibition illustrate how climate change is already taking place in 16 countries in four countries.
The 24 panels of the "We are all witnesses - People in a Changing Climate" exhibition illustrate how climate change is already taking place in 16 countries in four countries.
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Bangladesh:<br />
Rising sea<br />
level and<br />
cyclons<br />
Shadu Charan Mondol<br />
The dyke of<br />
Shingertoly<br />
© Dietmar Mirkes<br />
© Dietmar Mirkes<br />
“My name is Shadu Charan Mondol.<br />
I am 72 years old and I live in<br />
Shingertoly close to the river<br />
Malancha in Bangladesh. My house<br />
is built on a dyke (see on the left of<br />
the photo). It has been destroyed six<br />
times already because the dyke didn’t<br />
hold. With the rise of the tide, the<br />
sea pushes more and more up the<br />
river. The water level started rising 60<br />
years ago, but in the last 10 years this<br />
rise has become stronger. The spring<br />
tides that occur in June and July are<br />
even more dangerous; they cause the<br />
highest water levels. We have already<br />
been forced many times to rebuild the<br />
dyke farther away from the river, but<br />
this is an ongoing problem and there is<br />
no place left for us to move further.”<br />
(March 2009)<br />
July 2009: The Mondol family in Shingertoly<br />
after the cyclon Aila.<br />
Shadu Charan Mondol died in 2012<br />
© Caritas Bangladesh<br />
SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND:<br />
SEA LEVEL RISE<br />
The global sea level rise affects Bangladesh<br />
to a much greater degree than the global<br />
average because of its geographical position:<br />
the Bengal SAARC Meteorological Research<br />
Council discovered, based on data from the<br />
last 22 years, that the sea level rises around<br />
3 - 6 mm per year.<br />
A lot of Bangladesh’s territory is situated<br />
less than 2 meters above sea level and the<br />
sea can easily finger the land by the rivers.<br />
So, sea level rise causes a salinisation of the<br />
phreatic water in the coastal area and in the<br />
lower reaches of the rivers.<br />
India<br />
Bangladesh<br />
CO 2<br />
e emissions<br />
in tons per<br />
capita in 2010<br />
... AND RIS<strong>IN</strong>G <strong>IN</strong>TENSITY<br />
OF CYCLONS<br />
The most homicidal storm surges during<br />
the 20th century worldwide have occurred<br />
in the Bay of Bengal on the coasts of India,<br />
Bangladesh and Burma, where extreme<br />
water levels are driven by tropical cyclones :<br />
Sidr in 2007, Nargis in 2008 and Aila in 2009<br />
killed several hundred thousand people, due<br />
to the storm and the accompanying surge.<br />
The frequency of intense cyclones in the Bay<br />
of Bengal and their intensity during the end<br />
of the monsoon season until November have<br />
been increasing.<br />
15<br />
14<br />
13<br />
12<br />
11<br />
10<br />
9<br />
8<br />
7<br />
6<br />
5<br />
4<br />
3<br />
2<br />
1<br />
0<br />
WorldRiskIndex<br />
2012 VERY<br />
LOW<br />
EU27<br />
10.0<br />
Bangladesh<br />
1.1<br />
World<br />
7.3<br />
LOW MEDIUM HIGH VERY<br />
HIGH<br />
Further information at www.overconsumption.eu
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