Non-conventional security issues and natural disaster, pollution crisis

 Environmental security,
 Food security
 water security,
 Energy security,
 Climate change and see level rise,
 Terrorism;
 water pollution,
 Air pollution,
 Natural Disaster; cyclone, flood, landslide.
• Non-conventional security issues

• The traditional definition of national security during

the Cold War was ‘the protection of the state and its
vital interests from attack by other states.

• Following the end of the Cold War, the

understanding of national security shifted to ‘the
threats to individual citizens and to our way of life, as
well as to the integrity and interests of the state
• Non-traditional security issues are challenges to
the survival and well-being of peoples and states
that arise primarily out of non-military sources,
such as climate change, resources scarcity,
infectious diseases, natural disasters, irregular
migration, food shortages, people smuggling,
drug trafficking and transnational crime.
• These dangers are often transnational in scope,
defying unilateral remedies and requiring
comprehensive – political, economic, social –
responses, as well as humanitarian use of
military force.
• Non-traditional security focuses on non-military
threats with these common characteristics:
• The threats are transnational in nature with
regards to their origins, conceptions and effects.
• They do not stem from competition between
states or shifts in the balance of power, but
are often defined in political and socioeconomic
terms.
• Non-traditional security issues such as resource
scarcity and irregular migration cause societal and
political instability and hence become threats to
security.
• Other threats like climate change are often caused
by human-induced disturbances to the fragile
balance of nature with dire consequences to both
states and societies which are often difficult to
reverse or repair.
• National solutions are often inadequate and would
thus essentially require regional and multilateral
cooperation.
• The referent of security is no longer just the
state (state sovereignty or territorial integrity), but
also the people (survival, well-being, dignity) both
at individual and societal levels.
• The most critical non‐traditional security threats
facing the world today include:
• 1) Environmental challenges: These range from
pollution and disputes over water to energy and
food scarcity, natural hazards and climate
change.
• 2) Demographic problems that include
population growth, migration, refugees and
health issues,
• 3) The international drug trade, global
organized crime, terrorism, smuggling, and
piracy.
 Environmental security
• Bangladesh is considered to be one of the most
climate vulnerable countries in the world17 . The
frequent natural disaster causes loss of life, damages
infrastructures and assets and adversely affects the
lives and livelihoods.
• UNDP has identified Bangladesh to be the
most vulnerable country in the world to
tropical cyclones and the sixth most
vulnerable countries to floods of major flood
affected countries.
• In every 3 years, Bangladesh gets hit by a
severe tropical cyclone. The tropical cyclones
in 1970 and 1991 have killed approximately
500,000 and 140,000 people respectively.
• Between 1980 and 2008, Bangladesh
experienced 219 natural over US$16 billion in
total damage.
• In the post-1990 period, the nation has been
establishing cyclone shelters on the coast and
early warning systems have been put in place
making use of Radio and TV networks and
local volunteers.
• These have kept the loss of lives within a tolerable
limit, however , the damage to properties,businesses
and crops have increased in recent time.
• environmental threats are not fully the outcome of
the change in the composition of natural forces. But,
human-made causes are affecting the environment
to a greater extent in the last few decades.
• (E.g. Level of CO2 was between 180-300 ppm for
650 thousand years prior to the industrialization
period, but in the last few decades, especially, after
1950 it increased enormously. Statistics show that it
reached 400 ppm in March, 2014.)
 Food security
 Food security and adequate nutrition are
among the basic needs of every human being.
 Their fundamental importance has been
underscored by the world community through
the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which
enshrines the right to food and the right to
adequate nutrition, as among the inalienable
rights that every human person can claim.
• Bangladesh has come a long way from being a
chronically food deficit country in the 1970s. In the
last three decades, even as its population has more
than doubled, food production has more than kept
pace with population growth.
• There are still important shortfalls in the production
of certain non-cereal crops as well as some non-crop
foods relative to demand, but overall it is fair to say
that Bangladesh has attained food selfsufficiency at
the aggregate level—at least in terms of calorie
availability.
• Thus, per capita calorie intake in 2010 was 2,318
kilocalories (kcal) per day, which was comfortably
higher than the estimated minimum requirement of
2,122 kcal per day.
• The other dimension of food security—namely,
food utilization—is closely related to nutritional
outcomes, and there has been significant progress
on that front as well.
• UNICEF christened this anomaly as the “Asian
Enigma.” Since then, Bangladesh has achieved a
great deal by way of improving the state of
nutrition.
• A recent cross-country study has concluded that
from 1997 to 2007 Bangladesh had achieved one
of the fastest prolonged reductions in child
undernutrition in recorded history.
• Food insecurity in Bangladesh stems from extreme
poverty due to underemployment and unemployment,
inadequate land access for cultivation, social exclusion
and natural disasters. In these vulnerable, poor
populations, women and children are most affected by
malnutrition and undernutrition.
• Bangladesh self sufficient in food
• According to government
estimates, Bangladesh is self-sufficient in food grain
production. ... This translates into an additional 69.5
grams of food grain per person per day over and above
the set requirement of 454 grams/cap/day. This equals
a total consumption of 523.5 grams/cap/day.
• Self sufficient in food.
• We sit now at only 64% self-sufficiency, having
fallen from over 75% in the mid-1980s.Aug 27,
2020.
• The poorest upazila are in the Northest, The coatal
belt,Mymensingh, Netrakona, Bandarban and
Rangamati.
• Districts with more then one million people living
in extreme poverty include Sirajgang,Naogaon,
Bogra, Mymensingh and Chittagong. In these areas
food insecurity is one of the greatest threats to
the basic survival of people.
 Water Security
• Despite its position at the confluence of three major
rivers, in what is effectively the world’s second-largest
river drainage basin (the Ganges–Brahmaputra–
Meghna (GBM) Basin), Bangladesh faces a number of
serious threats to its water security.
• Bangladesh is the lowest riparian in the GBM Basin
and is therefore highly dependent on and vulnerable
to run-off from upper riparians.
• It is vulnerable to upstream river diversions, as 92.5%
of flows originate outside of the country. During the
wet season, rain is about three times higher than
evapotranspiration in all parts of Bangladesh.
• For the most part, that water becomes runoff and
eventually runs out to sea, but the water does not
recharge aquifers.
• For the most part, limited storage capacity has meant
that the significant amounts of excess water that
Bangladesh receives during the wet season cannot be
stored for later use.
• Generally, Bangladesh’s storage options are minimal, as
much of the country’s land is too flat for dams.
• Despite the country’s reputation for flooding, river flows
during the dry season can be very low (which is often
made worse by upstream withdrawals).
• That allows saline water from the coast to intrude
further upstream, making water unfit for consumption
and increasing soil salinity.
• Bangladesh usually has enough water to meet its needs (
97 per cent of the population has access to water), its
water resources are often heavily polluted. While
industrial activities do not extract as much water as other
activities, they have a major impact on water quality.
• The industrial sector discharges around 15,000m³ of
effluent into water bodies, which has contributed to high
rates of pollution in surface water supplies.
• Over 200 rivers have untreated industrial waste dumped
into them by over 1,000 industries, including those
involved in pharmaceuticals, pesticides, metal industries
and tanneries, among others. Domestic activities also
contribute to the problem, making bacteriological
contamination of water a common source of disease.
• In Dhaka, 80 per cent of tap water samples
were found to be contaminated with faeces.
Dhaka has one sewage treatment plant, that
covers 30 per cent of the city.
• In rural areas, meanwhile, pit latrines are the
most common way of dealing with
wastewater. These latrines are often
discharged directly into rivers, or may leach
into the ground, contaminating water
supplies.
• the Government of Bangladesh began to dig shallow
tube wells in the 1970s and 80s, which coincided with
a reduction in diarrhoeal disease.
• Groundwater levels fell by 32 % between 2003-2013,
threatening the country’s main source of drinking and
agricultural water.
• While Bangladesh has made exceptional progress in
raising living standards since independence, it still
faces significant issues in managing its food and water
security.
• As the country faces climate change, a global
pandemic and unchecked use and pollution of its
water resources, it will struggle to maintain the rate of
development that has defined the last two decades.
 Energy Security
• Energy security of a country means, according to IEA, ''The
uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable
price". In this context, both the energy resources and its
implementation both has to be taken into account.

• Energy security has always been a concern for all the

countries in the world, as with modernization, the use of
energy has been increasing rapidly and people’s life and
national economy becoming dependent on the usage of
energy.
• So to maintain a secured future different initiatives are being
taken in the energy sector all over the world. It is therefore
essential to take steps to ensure necessary energy supplies
and their proper distribution in Bangladesh to support
steady socio-economic development.
• The primary concern of energy production in
Bangladesh is the protracted effects of energy
demand and this requirement of energy will be
more than double by 2020.
• With commercial energy increasing by 400% ,
53% of the present supply of energy comes from
traditional fuels and the remaining from
commercial sources.
• Therefore traditional energy supplies have been
transferred away towards commercial energy
which has been the characteristic of
Bangladesh’s energy development since 1980’s
• For a Developing country like Bangladesh , energy
development program should be so conceived as would
ensure energy security under long term perspective not
only to meet the demand according to the present
requirement but also to ensure energy security for
future generation.
• Energy consumption of the country in 2000 and
projected demands of commercial energy estimated by
Gas Demand and Reserve Committee for business as
usual GDP growth rate (4.55) and cumulative natural gas
demand for different GDP growth scenarios (3%,
4.55%,6% & 7%) up to 2050 have been presented.
• Availability of indigenous commercial ,non-commercial
and non-renewable energy sources have been assessed.
• Energy Consumption and Economic Growth: Per capita
energy consumption of Bangladesh is one of the
lowest in the world. Major portion of Energy is
consumed for Subsistence (e.g. cooking, lighting,
heating etc.)& small portion for economic growth for
instance agriculture, industry, transport and
commerce.
• Energy Consumption and Human Development Index:
• In the early stage of development where the most of
the developing countries exist, per capita
consumption of total energy of Bangladesh in 2013
was only 217.5 kg OE and per capita commercial
energy consumption of 1000 kg OE is necessary to
sustain a reasonable level of development.
• For Bangladesh, given the energy resources are
meager, it has to depend on other countries to
some extent. Bangladesh has a great
opportunity to import hydropower from the
GBM countries like Bhutan and Nepal, specially
from the latter in this regard as we mentioned
earlier.
• Bangladesh should advance towards this
agreement earnestly as demand for electricity is
increasing by lips and bounds. We can also give
attention to sources like nuclear power ,which
will be a great source of energy.
 Climate change and see level rise,

• Climate change may pose a grave threat to the national

security of a nation and this is all the more prevalent in
a low –lying disaster porne country like Bangladesh.
• Two-thirds of Bangladesh is less than five metres
above sea level. ... By 2050, with a projected 50
cm rise in sea level, Bangladesh may lose
approximately 11% of its land, affecting an estimated
15 million people living in its low-lying coastal region.
The process of salinisation has been exacerbated
by rising sea levels.
• The Fourth assessment report of the
Intergovermental panel on Climate change states
that a 1 meter rise in sea level will displace 14.8
million people in Bangladesh.
• Bangladesh is exceptionally vulnerable to climate
change. Its low elevation, high population
density and inadequate infrastructure all put the
nation in harm’s way, along with an economy that
is heavily reliant on farming.
• Because of the country’s natural susceptibility to
extreme weather, the people of Bangladesh have
always used migration as a coping strategy.
• However, as conditions intensify under climate
change, more people are being driven from
their homes and land by more frequent and
severe hazards. Sea level rise, storms, cyclones,
drought, erosion, landslides, flooding and
salinization are already displacing large
numbers of people.
• It has been estimated that by 2050, one in
every seven people in Bangladesh will be
displaced by climate change. Up to 18 million
people may have to move because of sea level
rise alone.
• Bangladesh's vulnerability to climate
change impacts is due to a combination of
geographical factors, such as its flat, low-lying,
and delta-exposed topography, and socio-
economic factors, including its high population
density, levels of poverty, and dependence on
agriculture.
• Natural hazards that come from increased
rainfall, rising sea levels, and tropical cyclones
are expected to increase as the climate changes,
each seriously affecting agriculture, water and
food security, human health, and shelter.
• Sea levels in Bangladesh are predicted to rise
by up to 0.30 metres by 2050, resulting in the
displacement of 0.9 million people, and by up
to 0.74 metres by 2100, resulting in the
displacement of 2.1 million people
• To address the sea level rise threat in
Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
was launched in 2018. The government of
Bangladesh is working on a range of specific
climate change adaptation strategies.
Climate Change adaptation plays a crucial role
in fostering the country's development.
 Terrorism
• This is a factual accuracy may be compromised due to
out-of-date information. Please update this article to
reflect recent events or newly available
information. (March 2017)
• Bangladesh has experienced terrorism in the past
conducted by a number of radical local Islamist
organizations.In the past, both ISIL and had claimed to
be active in the country however, the Bangladeshi
government believes that they mainly operated
through local affiliates, before being neutralised by
security forces.
• In order to effectively counter the threat of
terrorism and its causes, it is vital that key
stakeholders better understand the domestic
context and operate within the opportunities and
limitations it presents.
• Militancy in Bangladesh feeds off national
challenges such as divisive and violent politics, weak
governance, and the social impacts of
underdevelopment.
• Moreover, acts of terrorism in Bangladesh are
perceived, in part, as an extension of the violent
means used by political actors to secure electoral
victory and intimidate, if not eliminate, opponents
and their supporters.
• These challenges combine to create an enabling
environment for the emergence of political violence
and terrorism by promoting a culture of impunity.
• promoting confrontational means of resolving
political differences, and creating heavily
personalized patronage networks in place of strong
civic bureaucracies and institutions.
• The government of Bangladesh’s response has been
largely reactive, rather than preventive, and it is
constrained by resource and capacity limitations.
• However, the interrelated nature of governance and
violence in Bangladesh presents multiple entry
points for engagement by Bangladesh’s international
partners.
• Countering Violent Extremism: Bangladeshi
organizations continued cooperative activities
through the Country Support Mechanism
under GCERF, a public-private global fund to
support local, grassroots CVE efforts in at-risk
communities.
• The Ministry of Religious Affairs and the
National Committee on Militancy, Resistance,
and Prevention work with imams and religious
scholars to build public awareness against
terrorism.
• The counter terrorism regime in Bangladesh includes
law enforcement and intelligence agencies, legal
appararatus, relevent stakeholders of the Government
involved in countering terrorism in Bangladesh, media
and civil society.
• In 2019, Bangladesh’s criminal justice system was still
in the process of fully implementing the Antiterrorism
Act of 2009 as amended in 2012 and 2013.
• The threat of radicalization,particularly through the
activities of organizations such as Hizb –ut
Tahrir,needs to be tacked effectively through public
and private engagement in communication and
awareness activities.
• Global Terrorism Index 2018 ,ranked
Bangladesh as 25th in terms of the impact of
terrorism in 2017. This classifies the country as
having had medium impact from terrorism.
• The global terrorism index systematically ranks
countries of the world according to their
terrorist activity.
• In 2020, Afghanistan ranked first on the global
terrorism index with a score of 9.59 points,
making it the country most affected by
terrorism on Earth.
 Water Pollution
• Water pollution is one of the significant dangers to
general wellbeing in Bangladesh. Drinking water
quality is inadequately overseen and checked.
Bangladesh positions at number 86 among 142
countries with respect to drinking water quality.
• Bangladesh – one of the most densely populated
countries of the world— has plentiful water sources,
but these sources are being polluted continuously.
Both surface water and groundwater sources are
contaminated with different contaminants like toxic
trace metals, coliforms as well as other organic and
inorganic pollutants.
• Water pollution, the release of substances into
subsurface groundwater or into lakes, streams, rivers,
estuaries, and oceans to the point where the
substances interfere with beneficial use of the water or
with the natural functioning of ecosystems.
• POLLUTION OF THE RIVER WATER:
The rivers of Bangladesh are the worse victim of
pollution, especially the rivers which stands in the
neighborhood of the Dhaka city is being polluted
tremendously.
Causes:
1. Rapid and unplanned urbanization and
industrialization, brickfield development, Dying
factories, tanneries, Grabbing up the river.
• 2. The slum dwellers use unhygienic open latrines, wash
clothes; take bath even cows and goats bathe in the river.
3. Untreated wastes are thrown into the river as most of
the industries have no Effluent Treatment Plant.
According to an industrial survey conducted by
Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies (BCAS) in 2009,
only about 40% industries have ETPs. In 10% industries,
ETPs are under construction and about 50% industries
have no ETP establishment. That is, more than 50% of
waste generated by the industries eventually goes to the
rivers untreated.
4. Some rivers are used to rot jute plants by the farmers.
5. Oil spills of boats and different water vessel.
6. Using agrochemicals in agricultural land.
• Effects:
• Due to over spilling of pollutants during the rainy season, the
agricultural lands are contaminated that they have lost their crop
growing capacity and hence remain unused all the year round.
• Sometimes the pollutants enter food chain eventually killing
birds, fish, and mammals.
• The scientists in a recent research on the Karnaphuli found
traces of radioactivity ‘very close to risk level’ on the soil. If
radioactivity of the river soil goes up it will hamper the natural
breeding of fish as well as growth of fishes. If the people eat the
affected fish it may spread to their body.
According to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the
Effects of Atomic Radiation on 2000 (UNSCER), normal level of
radiation hazard due to radioactivity is 0.5. The scientists in their
research got 0.6507 for external radiation hazard and 0.82 for
internal radiation hazard where the risk level is 1.
• • Pollution is so acute that hardly any hydro-organisms
can tolerate it and eventually, fish of many species are
found floating dead in the river water. These dead fishes
gradually get rotten and highly add to the further
pollution of the river water.
• Due to rotting jute in the river (Chitra) water the water
quality of the river is in an inferior position as aquatic
creatures are dying for lack of oxygen.
• The river pollution has also hit the local fishermen hard.
Life has become difficult for them as they lost their
income source.
• This also results in the alteration of geomorphic features
which can then change in the geometry and sedimentary
characteristics of river channels, flood plains and deltas.
• Industrial pollutants such as lead, cadmium, iron,
copper and organic wastes from leaking sewage systems
can accumulate in rivers. Referred as bioaccumulation,
this process can ruthlessly affect water quality and
species survival. More importantly, bioaccumulation of
metals in fish, crabs and other edible aquatic species,
may cause health problems to enter the food chain.
Also, this can destroy the water aeration system, the
self-purifying process of rivers.
• Eutrophication, a process of absorbing excessive
nutrients (especially N and P) beyond their buffering
capacity of water bodies leads to the loss of species
diversity through increased species mortality, changes
in species collection and loss of aquatic flora and fauna
diversity.
• Some steps to minimize pollution in last few years:
• 1. There is always a try to minimize pollution. Tongi Industrial
Area have unanimously decided for establishing and operating
a central ETP with their concerted effort with a view to
tackling the Turag River pollution (Prothom-Alo, August 31,
2010). Some projects are initiated to lessen this huge
pollution by the government though these all are not effective
always.
2. The government has taken a decision to shift the tannery
industry from Hazaribagh to Savar. The water board designed
sluice gates on the Jamuna near the Bangabandhu Jamuna
Bridge from where the waters would be diverted to the
Buriganga.
• 3. The most striking reason of pollution river water is the
surrounding industries like chemical industries, dying
industries, tanneries etc. According to the Environment
Conservation Act, 1995 (Amendment 2010), dyeing factories
are “red category” industries and are bound to install and run
an ETP.
• Bangladesh is a natural laboratory and the place of highest
species assemblage as well as species richness in the world,
especially the southwestern coastal areas of the country. This
area functions both as terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
ensemble. Alternative way should be thought to minimize the
future impacts of climate change before reach at extreme
level.
The Earth and it resources should be treated as a community
rather than a commodity. Our river waterisn’t unlimited
resources that can handle whatever we take out or dump in.
These waters need protection.
 Air Polluation
• Bangladesh air world's worst in
2019. Bangladesh has been named the
world's most polluted country for PM2. ...
Being among the world's megacities of 10
million people or more, the annual average
PM2. 5 concentration in Dhaka's air in 2019
was 83.3 microgrammes per cubic metre.Feb
26, 2020.
• Despite various government policies to
address the issue, Dhaka's air quality has
fallen from where it was two years ago.
• Air pollution is one of a variety of manmade
environmental problem. Air pollution may be
defined as an atmospheric condition in which
various substances are present at
concentrations high enough above their
normal ambient levels to produce a
measurable effect on people, animals,
vegetation or materials.
• ‘Substances’ refers to any natural or manmade
chemical elements or compounds capable of
being airborne.
• These may exist in the atmosphere as gases,
liquid drops, or solid particles. It includes any
substance whether noxious or benign;
however, the term ‘measurable effect’
generally restricts attention to those
substances that cause undesirable effects. Air
quality has deteriorated both due to human
activities, and natural phenomenon such as
wind-blown dust particles etc.
• Recently, air pollution has received priority among
environmental issues in Asia, as well as in other parts of
the world.
• Dhaka is a major cultural and manufacturing center. The
common types of industries in and around the periphery
of Dhaka are ready-made garment manufacturing, jute,
tanneries, textile, tea processing, fertilizer, cement, paper
and pulp, chemicals and pesticides, food and sugar,
pharmaceuticals, petroleum refinery, distillery, rubber,
plastics, and brick manufacturing, assembling buses,
trucks, and motorcycles, assembling radios and
televisions.
• Air of Dhaka is being polluted day by day very badly. The
other urban areas i.e. Chittagong, Khulna, Bogra and
Rajshahi have much lesser health problem related to
urban air pollution.
• A new source of air pollution is an increasing 'hole' in
the ozone layer in the atmosphere above Antarctica,
coupled with growing evidence of global ozone
depletion. Air pollution has also long been known to
have an adverse effect on human beings, plants,
livestock and aquatic eco system through acid rain.
• Dhaka city air reported to containing higher
proportion of lead and carbon monooxoid (CO) must
be considered very alarming. Air pollution has
become a matter of great concern for us in recent
years. Those who are living in cities in Asian
countries including Dhaka have already realized how
seriously air pollution has been poisoning life and
degrading the environment.
• The number of automobiles has been
increasing in Dhaka city at the rate of at least
10 to 20% annually, which has been
contributing to air pollution on the one hand
and traffic congestion on the other.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
stated in its News Briefs that pollution levels of
lead in Bangladesh are among the world’s
highest during dry season, according to
Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC),
with levels falling during periods of medium
and heavy rainfall.
• The Dhaka city dwellers are always at a serious
health risk due to the highly polluted air, warned
health experts. The increasingly high concentration
of toxic elements in the air is causing a foggy
blanket in the city sky at present.
• The website reveals that the air quality of the city
is lethal for human body especially during winter
and post winter. According to the website,
poisonous carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide,
nitrogen dioxide, suspended particulate matter
(PM-10) and particulate matter (PM-2.5) exist in
Dhaka's air beyond permissible level for human
body.
• Due to increase of PM-10 and PM-2.5, people lose
lung function and suffer from chronic respiratory and
cardiovascular diseases while nitrogen dioxide
increase Air Pollution in Dhaka City: A Burning Issue
Islam MS 21 risks of bronchitis and pneumonia.
Nitrogen dioxide causes respiratory infection. Carbon
monoxide reduces delivery of oxygen into the human
body, creates severe headache and decreases visual
perception and manual dexterity.
• Around 75% of the ingested lead is deposited in
bones and tissues causing irreversible brain and
kidney damage. Growing nervous system of young
children is particularly vulnerable.
Natural Disaster; cyclone, flood, landslide
• Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to
suffer very often from various natural disasters, namely
flood, cyclone, earth quake, landslide, arsenic hazard, etc.,
which strike causing a devastating impact on human life,
economy and environment.
• Every year Bangladesh loses about $6.5 billion or about 3.4
% of its 2015 GDP.
• Which may be caused by pollution and environmental
degradation in urban areas. A new World Bank report
shows that Bangladesh is among the countries that are
most affected by pollution.The country urgently needs to
take strong measures to prevent environmental degration
and pollution.
• Due to funnel shape coast the land is more vulnerable for natural
disaster than any other country of the world. Though it is almost
impossible to fully recoup the damage caused by the disasters, it is
possible to
• (i) minimize the potential risks by developing early warning
strategies
• (ii) prepare and implement developmental plans to provide
resilience to such disasters
• (iii) mobilize resources including communication and telemedicine
services, IJSDIS: Volume 2 Issue 1 January 2011 33 and
• (iv) to help in rehabilitation and post-disaster reconstruction. Space
technology plays a crucial role in efficient mitigation of disasters.
• The rapid change in climatic condition of the world and rise of sea
level increasing the threat to hazardous environment in both the
frequency and severity of natural disasters
  CYCLONE
• Cyclones are one of the biggest threats to life
and property even in the formative stages of
their development.
• They include a number of different hazards that
can individually cause significant impacts on life
and property, such as storm surge, flooding,
extreme winds, tornadoes and lighting.
• Combined, these hazards interact with one
another and substantially increase the potential
for loss of life and material damage.
• They generally occur in early summer ( April- May) or
late riny season ( October – November). Cyclones
originate from low atmospheric pressures over the
Bay of Bengal.
• Present day Bangladesh, due to its unique geographic
location,suffers from devastating tropical cyclones
frequently.
• The funnel shaped nothern portion of the Bay of
Bengal amplifies the strom surge of landfalling tropical
cyclones, affecting thousand people. Some of the
most devasting natural disasters in recorded history
with high casualties were tropical cyclone that hit the
region now comprising present day Bangladesh.
• Over the past 50 years, 1 942 disasters have been
attributed to tropical cyclones, which killed 779 324
people and caused US$ 1 407.6 billion in economic losses
– an average of 43 deaths and US$ 78 million in damages
every day.
• Cyclone, tropical cyclone, hurricane, and typhoon are
different names for the same phenomenon of a cyclonic
storm system that forms over the oceans. Tropical
cyclones can result in extensive flooding and storm surge
and causes devastating damage.
• Bangladesh, due to its unique geographic location, suffers
from devastating tropical cyclones frequently. The funnel-
shaped northern portion of the Bay of Bengal causes tidal
bores when cyclones make landfall, and thousands of
people living in the coastal areas are affected
• Floods:
• A flood is an overflow or accumulation of an
expanse of water that submerges land. Flooding
may result from the volume of water within a body
of water, such as a river or lake, which overflows or
breaks levees, with the result that some of the
water escapes its normal boundaries.
• While the size of a lake or other body of water will
vary with seasonal changes in precipitation and
snow melt, it is not a significant flood unless such
escapes of water endanger land areas used by man
like a village, city or other inhabited area.
• Floods have wreaked havoc in Bangladesh
throughout history. Major flooding recorded in
recent years occurred in: 1987, 1988, and
1998; the most recent one occurred in 2007.
• According to government statistics, 298
people died and a total of 10,211,780 people
were badly affected by it. 56,967 houses were
damaged by the floods up to 13 August 2007.
• In 2004, around 30 million Bangladeshis
affected by flood, and more than 40% of the
capital city, Dhaka were the underwater.
• Landslide:
• A landslide or landslip or mudslide is a geological
phenomenon which includes a wide range of
ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure
of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur
in offshore, coastal and onshore environments.
• Although the action of gravity is the primary driving
force for a landslide to occur, there are other
contributing factors affecting the original slope
stability. Bangladesh faced a severe mudslide in
2007. The 2007 Chittagong mudslides occurred in
the port city of Chittagong in south-eastern
Bangladesh.
• On 11 June 2007, heavy monsoon rainfall
caused landslides that engulfed slums around
the hilly areas of the city.
• Experts had previously warned the increasing
likelihood of landslides due to the Bangladesh
government's failure in curbing the illegal hill
cutting taking place in Chittagong (The Daily
Star, 2007).
• Global warming:
• Bangladesh is one of the highest disaster prone areas of the
world. We know that the whole world is undergoing a
climatic change due to temperature rise on the earth
surface, or global warming.
• How global warming may affect the ecology and life style in
Bangladesh are discussed below-
• The level of sea water will increase due to global warming.
As a result, sea water will enter the’ coastal areas. Due to
salinity in sea water, trees and forests, fisheries and crops
will be massively ruined.
• This situation is already evident in Bangladesh. We know
that the biodiversity in the Sundarbans is already at stake.
Salinity has increased at agricultural lands in the coastal
areas.
• Therefore, lands are losing fertility. Not only
that, many species of trees and sweet water
fishes are lost in the meantime.
• All these have adverse impact on people’s life
and livelihood. People are going to cities for
their survival. So the cities are getting
overburdened.
• It is mentioned that due to the global warming
the temperature of the earth is raising and the
ultra violet rays of the sun are also entering
this world directly.
• As a result, human beings and other animals
are suffering from several types of diseases
such as cancer, skin diseases, and some
others.
• Global warming is also destroying the
ecological balance. The desertification of the
northern part of Bangladesh is an example of
this.
• Global warming will result in flood, draught,
and salinity.
• As a consequence, there will be shortage of
food for livestock and different types of
diseases will spread.
• Considering all these negative aspects, we
need to take caution to face the problems of
climate change.
• Minimize the possible destruction of natural
disaster:
• We can minimize the losses of these kinds of
disaster by taking following measures—
• Massive forestation should be implemented.
• Try to avoid harmful fertilizers and insecticides
on land.
• Use high lands as much as possible to build
houses, and animal sheds.
• Build houses within embankments in river bank
areas and within enclosures in coastal areas.
• Plant bamboo, banana, dholkolmi, dhoincha
and similar trees around your house. They can
defend currents of any flood to a large extent.
• Make an extra roof or platform inside your
house and preserve foods, seeds, and other
necessary items there. If flood/cyclone water
enters inside the house, they are not damaged.
• Fall down of industrial waste into sea or river
should be stopped.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH