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Bangladesh gaining land, not losing: scientists

Posted on August 3, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized, Announcements, News, Coastal Waters, Climate Change

Content courtesy: Yahoo News
Image Courtesy: Wikipedia

Contrary to conventional wisdom on climate change scientists report that low lying areas of Bangladesh are gaining land. Current belief is cued to the fact that low lying areas are at an increased risk of submergence due to higher ocean levels due to global warming.

The predictions have been particularly dire for Bangladesh in the face of the changing world with an estimated 17 per cent loss in land mass expected by 2050. But the hidden factor has been the creation of new landmass by sediments carried in by the river systems that nourish the land. An estimation taking into account the sediment based land mass formation indicates a gain in total land area.

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Solution Exchange’s Annual Forum - 2

Posted on July 30, 2008 | Filed Under Conf, Wkshop, Training, Coastal Waters, Audio-Video, Kids, Solution Exchange

Solution Exchange’s (www.solutionexchange-un.net.in) Annual Forum for the Water Community was held in Bangalore 23-25 July 2008. Over the next week, we will bring you short videos and more about some of the new and exciting ideas and worthwhile initiatives that were showcased there.
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In this video, Dr. Latha Bhaskar of ATREE does a very nice introduction to wetlands, the issues around them and the work of ATREE in regard to the Vembanad wetlands of Kerala. There has been signficant community involvement in their program, including eductating and involving children, keeping track of the water quality around the wetlands and involving the Gram Panchayat. The website of this effort is http://www.vembanad.org and Dr. Bhaskar can be reached at latha.bhaskar@atree.org

The first newsletter of the Vembanad wetlands effort can be seen here:
http://www.atree.org/newsletters/vembanad/vembanad_1_1.pdf

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More coverage from the Annual Forum:
http://www.indiawaterportal.org/blog/index.php/category/solution-exchange/

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Algal Bloom along the Coast of China

Posted on July 17, 2008 | Filed Under Technology, Announcements, News, Coastal Waters, Climate Change

News and Image Courtesy:The Nasa Earth Observatory

On June 28, 2008, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured these images of Qingdao and the bay of Jiaozhou Wan. It shows the officials and residents of Qingdao (also known as Tsingtao) struggling with a stubborn adversary: algae.

The top image is a natural-color image similar to what a digital camera would photograph.

The bottom image is a false-color image made from a combination of light visible to human eyes and infrared light our eyes cannot see. In this image, vegetation appears vibrant green, including the strips of algae floating in the bay and in the nearby coastal waters.

Original Article on NASA’s Earth Observatory Page:Chinese Algal Bloom

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Cyclone Sidr

Posted on November 22, 2007 | Filed Under Coastal Waters

Supercyclone SIDR
Supercyclone SIDR, which spared India’s coast but caused terrible damage and loss of life in Bangladesh, has been widely covered in the news recently. As a follow up to our initial posting of NASA images of the cyclone, here’s an update with more details:
With wind speeds of up to 240 kph and 20 foot high tidal waves, cyclone SIDR has been described as a national calamity by the Bangladesh government. The official death count is already 3,447 and many fear the toll could go up to 10,000 as counting continues. That’s to say nothing of bodies swept into the sea. Besides the direct impact of the wind, injuries and death have been caused by the tidal waves, by flying debris and falling trees. The UN estimates that over 273,000 homes have been destroyed and a further 650,000 damaged, and 876,000 hectares of crops ruined. Up to four million people in the area, one of the poorest places on the planet, have been left without sufficient food, water, or shelter. UNICEF said nearly half of those affected by the disaster were children. As if that were not enough, starvation, diarrhea and other waterborne diseases and an acute shortage of drinking water are likely to multiply the impact in the days to come, especially in inaccessible areas. A 100 kilometer stretch of Bangladesh’s coastline has been badly hit. The fishing industry, the mainstay of the coastline’s economy, has also been wiped out. It’s also an ecological disaster, with the world’s largest mangrove forest and home to the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger taking the brunt of the storm. The Sunderbans is listed as a World Heritage Site by the UN cultural organisation UNESCO. Mangroves are in fact nature’s protection for humans from such storms, but there is a limit to what even they can take. As global surface water temperatures rise, experts say that the intensity of such storms in on the increase. In other words, this could be one more of the many consequences of global warming.

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