Will Bangladesh really sink?

In a recent climate conference in Paris UNEP released a much-awaited international report which said that global warming was 'man-made' and 'would continue for centuries'.

The report predicted temperature rises of 1.1 to 6.4 Celsius Degrees by the year 2100. On sea levels, the report projects rises of 7-23 inches (18 – 58 centimeters) by the end of the century.

The report may explain why the temperature in Berlin yesterday was 10 degree celsius when the average temperature of February last year was 2 degrees with a maximum of 8 degrees.

But it is interesting to see that Bangladesh has become a stereotyped case of global warming for many. Every now and then one or two articles pop up which tend to sink Bangladesh as a direct effect of global warming. Latest on this is a Times Online article which quoting a Bangladeshi Shrimp Farmer says:

Over three decades Mr Gain has seen the waters around his mud house in the coastal region of Munshiganj, where silt-laden rivers meet the sea, rise 3m (10ft). He has been battered by increasingly violent floods, tornadoes and cyclones, and tasted the salt seeping relentlessly into his drinking water.

If the sea rises by a metre — as some scientists say it will by 2100 — a quarter of Bangladesh will be submerged, forcing 30 to 40 million people from their homes.

Blogger Tim Worstall comments:

"The best estimate so far is that sea levels have been rising by 2mm to 3 mm a year in recent decades. So, at maximum, with a little rounding, Mr. Gain can blame 10 cm of the rise on us energy guzzling westerners. The other 2 metres and 90 centimetres must be to do with something else: like the shifting of sandbanks perhaps in an area where 'silt-laden rivers meet the sea'.

Sloppy reporting? Or deliberate misrepresentation? You decide."

Well I am not sure whether the rise of river level is similar to the rise of sea level. More scientific data should be considered before reaching to any conclusion. But really there is no need to create panic with these kinds of gross statements that Bangladesh will be sinking. Bangladesh has come a long way in tackling the devastations of the floods and cyclones it is prone to.

What Bangladesh needs now is to be aware of the problem and take a long term planning to protect the effects of Global warming. If the Netherlands can reclaim massive land from below sea level why can't Bangladesh do the same?

So please consider these things before being convinced by another article which sinks Bangladesh.