Bangladesh mini case study

Question 1

When?

Answer 1

August 2007

Question 2

What?

Answer 2

Heavy monsoon rainfall caused worst river floods for decades - 60% of country inundated, 9 million people displaced (in Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta)
Flooding recurrent on delta where 3 major rivers converge
+ seasonal melting of Himalayan glaciers worsens flooding of low-lying delta

Question 3

Impacts?

Answer 3

Transmission of water-borne diseases increases - already account for 1/4 of all deaths in Bangladesh - climate change threatens even more extreme flooding in future with more frequent cyclones, more melting of glaciers and rising sea level. - creates conditions which increase incidence and spread of infectious diseases
Severe epidemics of diarrhoea (70,000 people) and other water-borne diseases such as typhoid and hepatitis
Drinking water and food contaminated with pathogens - people in close proximity to aquatic environments and each other (very high population density (>1000/mk2 in some districts)
Sever poverty
One in 8 wells contaminated by bacterial pathogens after floods