The global temperatures may rise between 1.8 degree and 4.0 degree Celsius by the last decade of the 21st century.The impacts of global warming on the climate, however, will vary in different regions of the world.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that in South Asia monsoon rainfall will increase, resulting in higher flows during the monsoon season in the rivers, which flow into Bangladesh from India, Nepal, Bhutan and China. These flows are likely to further increase in the medium term due to the melting of the Himalayan glaciers.

Bangladesh will be one of the worst affected countries of climate change. It experiences frequent natural disasters, which cause loss of lives, damage to infrastructure and economic assets, and adversely impacts on lives and livelihoods, especially of poor people.

The IPCC also forecasts that global warming will result in sea level rises between 0.18 and 0.79 metres, which could increase coastal flooding and saline intrusion into aquifers and rivers across in the southern region of the country, although most of the areas are protected by polders.

More rainfall is predicted and erratic also, and the frequency and intensity of droughts are likely to increase, especially in the drier northern and western parts of the country.

The government is conscious about this and taking measures to face the challenge.

It prepared a 10-year ‘Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan’ in 2008 to face the challenges of climate change. This document has also been crafted after extensive consultations with all-important stakeholders including disadvantaged groups who frequently become victims of natural calamities.

Most of Bangladesh lies in the delta of three of the largest rivers in the world – the Brahmaputra, the Ganges and the Meghna. These rivers have a combined peak discharge in the flood season of 180,000 m /sec. (the second highest in the world after the Amazon) and carry about two billion tonnes of sediment each year.

The topography of the country is mostly low and flat. Two-thirds of the country is less than 5 metres above sea level and is susceptible to river and rainwater flooding and, in lower lying coastal areas, to tidal flooding during storms.

The government of Hasina has planned to buy dredgers for maintaining adequate depth of the rivers so that rivers cause less casualties and damages to properties.

A severe tropical cyclone hits Bangladesh, on average, every 3 years. These storms generally form in the months just before and after the monsoon and intensify as they move north over the warm waters of the Bay of Bengal.

They are accompanied by high winds of over 150 kph and can result in storm surges up to seven metres high, resulting in extensive damage to houses and high loss of life to humans and livestock in coastal communities. The tropical cyclones in 1970 and 1991 are estimated to have killed 500,000 and 140,000 people, respectively.

Government has to take up coordinated steps to face negative impacts of climate change effectively. The government may be benefited in this connection if it follows some guidelines. Those are:

• The government has to prepare a comprehensive disaster management strategy.

• Improvement of flood forecasting and early warning systems by increasing lead times and strengthening dissemination mechanisms is very much important to reduce save lives and properties. Currently, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) issues flood levels forecasts for 24, 48 and 72 hours. These forecasts are released through e-mails as well as placed on a web site. However, there is scope for improvement.

• The current practice of releasing warnings in terms of river stage are not easily understood by local communities, while the absence of digital elevation models (DEM) makes it difficult for flood forecasting. The sys tem should be made easy.

• It would be helpful to communities and the authorities to have longer-range forecasts, even though they are not always reliable. FFWC has the capacity to make 10-day forecasts.

• There is a need to raise awareness among communities and officials at all levels on the likely increased incidence of natural disasters. Some areas where urgent attention must be given include shelter management, search and rescue and health issues during and after natural disasters.

• Government should repair existing flood embankments on priority basis.

• Maintenance of existing cyclone shelters should be given importance.

Britain has pledged 75 million pounds (130 million US dollars) to help Bangladesh fight the effects of climate change. The government must ensure that the aid and its own money are properly used for saving the country from ambush of climate change

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the recently held climate summit in Copenhagen underscored the need for showing a common wisdom and making right decisions for a greener and more habitable world. She also stressed the urgency of a “common commitment” to meet emergency needs.

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Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to demarcate their maritime boundary through a coordinated policy having the “principle of equity” and ” equidistance system.”

????Both countries reached the consensus to formulate the coordinated policy on the last day of a two-day high-level meeting in Bangladesh’s commercial capital ,?Chittagong city,Myanmar deputy foreign minister U Maung Myint is heading the Myanmar side in the two-nation talks.

????Bangladesh’s Additional Foreign Secretary Rear Admiral (retd) MKhorshed Alam briefed reporters about it after the meeting.
This is the first such meeting since Bangladesh turned to the United Nations arbitration court in October last year for resolving long-standing disputes over maritime demarcation in the Bay of Bengal with Myanmar and India.

At the same time, Bangladesh made it known that options for bilateral discussions and settlement would remain open.

Bangladesh, India and Myanmar have been unable to exploit oil and gas reserves in the Bay due to claims and counter-claims for the offshore blocks.

Out of Bangladesh’s total 27 blocks, Myanmar and India have made overlapping claims on at least 18 in the complicated maritime geography.

Foreign minister Dipu Moni has termed Indian and Myanmar claims as “aggressive” for blocking Bangladesh’s sea zone.

Dipu Moni has said the disputes could be resolved through UN arbitration in a maximum of four years if Bangladesh could not bury the disputes through bilateral talks.

????Alam, who led the Bangladeshi delegation at the meeting, said the two countries would hold another meeting in Myanmar before April to formulate the coordinated policy. He, however, said the talks ended fruitfully. Myanmar’s delegation was headed by deputy Foreign Minister of Myanmar Yu Maung Myint.

????Alam said the nature of the coordinated system would be fixed through discussions. “It’s a technical matter. We’ve agreed to continue talks,” he said.

????During Friday’s talks, Bangladesh and Myanmar placed their respective proposals on demarcation of the maritime boundary, as they opened the talks on a positive note to resolve the dispute over the mineral-rich waters of the Bay of Bengal.

????On the first day of the two-day meeting, Bangladesh proposed fixing the maritime boundary following the “principle of equity” while Myanmar recommended per-line-based “equidistance system.”

????The dispute was created over the maritime boundary between the two neighboring countries as Bangladesh protested Myanmar’s move for lifting mineral resources from a disputed block in Bay of Bengal in 2008.

????Later, Bangladesh formally raised the issue at the Arbitration Tribunal of the United Nations in October, 2009, for a solution.

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