Coastal Hazards in Bangladesh: Non-Structural and Structural Solutions provides a review of the study of Bangladesh's coastal region, an area whose location and physical geography present the prefect microcosm for the study of coastal hazards and for the development of tactics that are applicable to regions around the world. The book presents engineers, scientists, and planners with the necessary tools and planning solutions used to combat coastal vulnerabilities in Bangladesh. Divided into seven chapters, it begins with a critical overview of cyclone and storm surge disasters, focusing on both engineering responses and public preparedness programs to such events. In addition, engineering recommendations are provided for further reduction of their impacts, such as erosion, accretion, and land subsidence, and numerical models are introduced to assess flood induced hazard and risk, flood-induced design loads, and how to intervene in protecting key installations, infrastructures, and communities. - Provides engineers, scientists, and planners with the necessary tools and planning solutions they need to address the coastal vulnerabilities presented by floods, cyclones, and storm surge - Includes engineering recommendations on how to reduce coastal hazards and their impact - Explores the topic of sea level rise and the effect of salt water intrusion on fresh water and the surrounding soil - Examines land uses in the coastal zones, their trend, and their effects on coastal zones

Climate Change in Bangladesh: Confronting Impending Disasters is a comprehensive analysis of climate change impacts on Bangladesh, followed by a review of measures for confronting the manifested threats of climate change on the people and environment of Bangladesh. Using an integrative approach, the authors blend their own work on indigenous adjustments to climatic hazards in Bangladesh with an analysis of the role of modern engineering intervention and disaster management policies in alleviating these hazards. There is also an emphasis on the environment and people of coastal Bangladesh who are at risk of inundation due to global warming–induced sea level rise. Thus, in addition to analyzing main climatic disasters at some length—tropical cyclones (hurricanes), floods, droughts, and sea level rise—key topics of human dimensions of climate change include climate change victims, climate refugees, climate justice, public policies on climate change, and a sample of adaptation measures for living with the rising sea levels.

The Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation addresses the scientific, social, political and cultural aspects of climate change in an integrated and coherent way. The multi-volume reference focuses on one of the key aspects of climate change: adaptation and how to handle its impacts on physical, biotic and human systems, analyzing the social and normative scientific concerns and presenting the tools, approaches and methods aimed at management of climate change impacts. The high-quality, interdisciplinary contributions provides state-of-the-art descriptions of the topics at hand with the collective aim of offering, for a broad readership, an authoritative, balanced and accessible presentation of the best current understanding of the nature and challenges posed by climate change. It serves not only as a valuable information source but also as a tool to support teaching and research and as help for professionals to assist in decision-making.

The book outlines the climate change adaptation (CCA) actions in Bangladesh drawing examples and lessons from different projects and programs in the country. The content is based on a selection of available documents, a consultative workshop with the academicians from different universities undertaking higher education on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, and the editors’ own knowledge and experience in the field. The book has four parts. Part I gives the details of climate change impacts, providing the scenarios, negotiations, and specific impacts on sea-level rise and the health sectors. Part II focuses on climate change strategy and action plans. Part III covers socio-economic impacts in terms of economic and environmental costs. Part IV focuses on adaptive actions for agriculture, livelihoods, and integrated approaches in agriculture and fisheries. Part V deals with climate-change governance issues. The primary target groups for this book are students and researchers in the fields of environment, disaster risk reduction, and climate change studies. The book will provide them with a good idea of the current trend of research in the field and will furnish basic knowledge on this important topic in Bangladesh. Another target group comprises practitioners and policy makers, who will be able to apply collective knowledge to policy and decision making.

This book explores climate services, including projections, descriptive information, analyses, assessments, and an overview of current trends. Due to the pressures now being put on the world’s climate, it is vital to gather and share reliable climate observation and projection data, which may be tailored for use by different groups. In other words, it is essential to offer climate services. But despite the growth in the use of these services, there are very few specialist publications on this topic. This book addresses that need. Apart from presenting studies and the results of research projects, the book also offers an overview of the wide range of means available for providing and using climate services. In addition, it features case studies that provide illustrative and inspiring examples of how climate services can be optimally deployed.

The aim of this book is to provide information to scientists and local government to help them better understand the particularities of the local climate. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges to society. It can lead to serious impacts on production, life and environment on a global scale. Higher temperatures and sea level rise will cause flooding and water salinity problems which bring about negative effects on agriculture and high risks to industry and socio-economic systems in the future. Climate change leads to many changes in global development and security, especially energy, water, food, society, job, diplomacy, culture, economy and trade. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change as: “Any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.” Global climate change has emerged as a key issue in both political and economic arenas. It is an increasingly questioned phenomenon, and progressive national governments around the world have started taking action to respond to these environmental concerns.

In the last two decades, coastal regions have relatively endured some of the fiercest oceanic and geophysical disasters than the earlier decades. Yet, disaster management governance fails to match the human, nonhuman and environmental calamity which is unfolding in its most frequent and unpredictable pattern. Between the Asian Tsunami of 2004 to the devastating Chennai and Kerala floods of 2018 the socio-industrial-livelihood impact alerts governments towards a greater and more serious compliance to laws for coastal conservation. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) in 2018 had shocking statistics to share as the deaths and damages related to only Tsunami disaster at the coasts to 251,770 and US$280 billions respectively in the last 20 years (1998-2017) as compared to 998 and US$ 2.7 billion in the previous 20 years (1978-1997). Coastal conservation is no more a question of casual governance but has become a need for survival. The region of South Asia which ranks much higher in its vulnerability, weak resilience and relatively undersupplied governance structures ought to take this responsibility on a priority. The spirit of Hyogu Declaration and the Sendai Framework for Action suggests preparedness and resilience building as key approach areas in coastal governance. The book is incomparable in its holistic and transdisciplinary social science based approach to disaster management which links conservation of marine flora and fauna, ecosystems and land management with decision making processes and coastal regulations. These grass root findings from the subcontinent are substantiated by a section on the most powerful court battle on the Kerala Floods as a guideline for readers to discerningly identify an ‘Act of God’ often used as a veil to hide lack of preparedness, apathy and political greed. This book becomes indispensable reading for anyone involved in research, administration or any level of decision making for the mitigation and prevention of disasters.

An overview of the current scientific knowledge available on climate change implications for fisheries and aquaculture is provided through three technical papers that were presented and discussed during the Expert Workshop on Climate Change Implications for Fisheries and Aquaculture (Rome, 7-9 April 2008). A summary of the workshop outcomes as well as key messages on impacts of climate change on aquatic ecosystems and on fisheries- and aquaculture-based livelihoods are provided in the introduction of this Technical Paper. The first paper reviews the physical and ecological impacts of climate change relevant to marine and inland capture fisheries and aquaculture. The paper begins with a review of the physical impacts of climate change on marine and freshwater systems and then connects these changes with observed effects on fish production processes. It also outlines a series of scenarios of climate change impacts on fish production and ecosystems through case studies in different regions and ecosystems. The second paper tackles the consequences of climate change impacts on fisheries and their dependent communities. It analyses the exposure, sensitivity and vulnerability of fisheries to climate change and presents examples of adaptive mechanisms currently used in the sector. The contribution of fisheries to greenhouse gas emissions is addressed and examples of mitigation strategies are given. The role of public policy and institutions in promoting climate change adaptation and mitigation is also explored. Finally, the third paper addresses the impacts of climate change on aquaculture. It provides an overview of the current food fish and aquaculture production and a synthesis of existing studies on climate change effects on aquaculture and fisheries. The paper focuses on the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on aquaculture, in terms of biodiversity, fish disease and fishmeal. Contribution of aquaculture to climate change is addressed (carbon emission and carbon sequestration), as well as possible adaptation and mitigation measures that could be implemented.

Sea level rise (SLR) due to climate change is a serious global threat: The scientific evidence is now overwhelming. continued growth of greenhouse gas emissions and associated global warming could well promote SLR of 1m-3m in this century, and unexpectedly rapid breakup of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets might produce a 5m SLR. In this paper, we have assessed the consequences of continued SLR for 84 developing countries. Geographic Information System (GIS) software has been used to overlay the best available, spatially-disaggregated global data on critical impact elements (land, population, agriculture, urban extent, wetlands, and GDP) with the inundation zones projected for 1-5m SLR. Our results reveal that hundreds of millions of people in the developing world are likely to be displaced by SLR within this century; and accompanying economic and ecological damage will be severe for many. At the country level, results are extremely skewed, with severe impacts limited to relatively small number of countries. For these countries (e.g., Vietnam, A.R. of Egypt, and The Bahamas), however, the consequences of SLR are potentially catastrophic. For many others, including some of the largest (e.g., China), the absolute magnitudes of potential impacts are very large. At the other extreme, many developing countries experience limited impacts. Among regions, East Asia and Middle East/North Africa exhibit the greatest relative impacts. To date, there is little evidence that the international community has seriously considered the implications of SLR for population location and infrastructure planning in developing countries. We hope that the information provided in this paper will encourage immediate planning for adaptation.

This collection contains 79 papers addressing the challenges and lessons learned along the coastlines of the world, presented at the 2011 Solutions to Coastal Disasters Conference, held in Anchorage, Alaska, June 25-29, 2011.