Because of global climate change, Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and home of the legendary Bengal tiger, would go under water. A report published in BBC says that already two islands have been gone under water. If proper steps are not taken now to stop the green house gas emission then there could be serious problem. People who live in these areas would also face the adverse effects. I am quoting from the report:
As sea level rises - partly as a response to climate change - two islands have vanished from the map. Professor Sugata Hazra, a stocky dynamo of a man, discovered their disappearance when he compared maps from the Raj with satellite images. He says 6,000 people have had to be relocated here because their land is underwater.
People like Bashunto Janna. He is 81 now and says he has not got long to live. His family used to farm 85 acres on the vanished island of Lochachara. Now they have one acre in a village for displaced people on a nearby island, which itself is under threat from the waves.
The Sundarbans straddle India and Bangladesh. Here on the Indian side, the Indian government is just about coping with the slowly unfolding crisis. Bashunto's adult children may hanker for life on the farm but at least they have homes and paid work. But Professor Hazra warns that the way the sea is rising, by the end of the century there will not be thousands on the move along this coastline - there will be millions. The problem is compounded by rapid population growth in the Sundarbans islands at the great delta in the Bay of Bengal.
As the surrounding areas of the Sundarbans are inaccessible, people living in these areas do not get any education about family planning. Scientists of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate are expecting more severe storms, droughts and floods in these areas.
In order to reduce the emission of green house gases, United Nations introduced Kyoto protocols. However, America and many other developed countries do not agree to this protocol by saying that rising Asian countries like India, China, do not have any standard frame work about reducing the emission of green house gases. On the other hand, policy makers of India think that this protocol would hinder their country’s progress. Their main argument is that people in developed countries emit more green house gas then people living in India but they do not follow the protocol.
Sundarban forest is situated between Bangladesh and India. Bangladesh will also be equally affected by this climate change. The tragic part is that neither of these two countries is taking necessary steps to protect this mangrove forest, one of the largest in the world. I hope the governments of these two countries reach to some kind of understanding. Related article:
BBC
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