LEDC Flooding case study Flashcards
What is an LEDC flooding case study?
Bangladesh 2004
South east Asia
Himalayas mountains North of bangladesh
Bay of Bengal- south coast with sources from the river Ganges, river Brahmaputra and river meghna
What are the physical causes of the Bangladesh floods?
Low lying flat land, only 1m above sea level, on a floodplain + delta
2 tributaries join, confluence, increasing discharge and velocity Ganges+Neghna
Snow melt from Himalayas
Ground is permanently saturated
Coastal flooding
Monsoon from May-September
What are the human causes of the Bangladesh floods?
Global warming (ANTHROPEGINIC) Human influenced
Urbanisation of farming, compact soils
Dhaka Urbanisation
Lack of money for a good defence, more reliant on aid (average GDP= $300 per capita)
Deforestation in Nepal + Himalayas (2/3 of the regions forest will disappear by 2100)
What are the environmental impacts?
During July and August 2004, approx 38% of the total land area was flooded
800,000 hectares of agricultural land and capital city Dhaka was flooded
No access to clean water
River bank erosion
Soil erosion
Water-logging (urban areas)
Water contamination
What are the social impacts?
36 million people (from a population of 125 million) made homeless
7 million homes destroyed
300,000 homes damaged
The death toll had risen to 800 by September
Domestic and internal flights had to be suspended
Landless labourers and small farmers most seriously affected in rural areas
In urban areas, slum dwellers were most affected with poorly drained land
1000 patients a day from waterborne diseases e.g. diarrhoea, cholera
What are the Economic impacts?
Infrastructure such as: Roads, bridges and embankments were destroyed
Value of damage= $2.2 billion or 4% of total GDP for 2004
2 million tonnes of rice destroyed
Garment factories running below capacity accounting for 80% of exports
What were the short term responses of the Bangladesh flooding?
£21 million donated by the UK
Affected farmers subsidised with free seeds
They worked with Non-governmental organisations who gave emergency relief, providing food, clothing and blankets
What were the long term responses of the Bangladesh flooding?
Following the 2004 floods, additional aid was granted for a period of 5 years, mainly in the form of a loan from the world bank for: repairs to infrastructure, water resource management and education
Individual homes and villages were raised by 2m incase of future floods
