Bangladesh Floods 2007

Question 1

What were the physical causes of the Bangladesh floods?

Answer 1

• Snow melt- increases river discharge
• Monsoon rain- prolonged rainfall and brings a sheer volume of water
• Saturated soil

Question 2

What were the human causes of the Bangladesh floods?

Answer 2

• Urbanisation- impermeable surfaces, dense population, lower water table
• Deforestation- less interception and infiltration, more SRO
• Climate change- Sea level rise by 30-50mm, unpredictable weather

Question 3

What were the social impacts of the Bangladesh floods?

Answer 3

• 10.5 million people displaced
• Outbreaks of diarrhoea and cholera
• Internation aid
• Drowning
• Half of the country was affected
• No home insurance
• 1100 deaths
• 2.2 million acres of farmland submerged
• Boats used to resuce people
• Damage to businesses in Dhaka

Question 4

What were the economic impacts of the Bangladesh floods?

Answer 4

• Garment industry could not export (80% of total earnings)
• $1 billion worth of damage
• 0.5 million tonnes of rice destroyed
• Disruption to transport, communications
• No access to medical treatment

Question 5

What were the environmental impacts of the Bangladesh floods?

Answer 5

• Rivers were polluted with raw sewage
• Fertile silt deposited on the floodplains
• Farmland flooded

Question 6

What made the floods worse?

Answer 6

• It is a poor country so there are few defences or warnings in place
• Individuals don’t have good income so have little savings and little insurace
• Many officials are corrupt and divert aid money away from the people who need it most