You already know about the causes of weather and climate change. Now let us know about the effects of climate change. The effect of climate change has already become visible in Bangladesh and there are as follows:

1) Seasonal variation: Bangladesh is a land of six seasons and each season had its own characteristic. A remarkable change is going on regarding season cycle because of climate change. Though Ashar and Shraban make rainy season, heavy rainfall is occurring in the month of Ashwin and this is causing untimely flood. On the other hand, winter is getting shorter day by day. It is also noticeable that summer has become hotter and sometimes at day time temperature reaches up to 45-48 ? in some parts of the country. Similarly, winter temperature especially in the northern part of the country becomes very low. Many people die because of this unusual and extreme weather condition.

2) Flood: Flood is a common annual phenomenon in Bangladesh, a land of river. In many cases it is beneficial because that flood results in siltation on agricultural land increasing its fertility leading to better crop production. However, nowadays, due to climate change, frequent and devastating floods are occurring. Such destructive floods occurred in the past also but they were less frequent. In 1988, 1995, 1998 and 2005 catastrophic floods caused a huge damage to lives and properties. Consequently, the whole economy of the country is being affected. Even the areas like Dhaka, Jessore which usually are not flood-prone, being inundated currently.

3) River Erosion: Erosion of riverbank is a normal incident in Bangladesh. However, recently it has been intensified. As a result, a large number of people are losing their houses and becoming poorer day by day. Also, a large amount of farmland is lost in rivers and it is a serious problem for this over populated country. People who are losing their homes are leading inhuman life like nomads or in slums of towns and cities. From a study, it is seen that in last three decades, about 180,000 hectares of land have been engulfed by only three big rivers the Padma, the Jamuna and the Meghna.

4) Droughts: As Bangladesh is an agricultural country drought is a very important issue here. Global warming is the main reason for climate change for which global temperature will increase and that will certainly affect rainfall severely. In some regions, rainfall will be extremely low leading to drought. Drought caused by climate change may hamper crop production in Bangladesh.

5) Salinity of Water: You have already learnt in chapter two that due to global warming leading to global climate change, sea level will rise and a significant part of Bangladesh will go under water. As a consequence, sea water will intrude to main land and the salinity in surface water, ground water as well as agricultural land will increase. In that situation, there will be scarcity of water in one hand on the other hand, due to increased salinity cultivation will be hampered. According to recent data, about 830,000 hectares of land in south-western part of Bangladesh has already become unsuitable for cultivation. Therefore, due to climate change leading to increased salinity in water, Bangladesh will be in a great risk regarding food security. As per expert opinion, 30% of food production will be reduced by 2100, whereas 8.8% of rice production and 32% of wheat production will be reduced by 2050 due to climate change. In Bagerhat, Khulna and Sathkhira districts in south-western part, about 13% of agricultural land has already been affected by saline water and that could reach 16% by 2050 and 18% by 2100.

6) Threats to Coral Population: Sea coral is very sensitive to temperature. Usually 22- 28? temperature is suitable for their survival. An increase in 1-2? temperature works as a severe threat for coral. According to data obtained from a recent study, in the year 2010, approximately 70% of coral population in Saint Martin Island in Bangladesh has been depleted compared to that in 1960. It is to be mentioned that in addition to increase in temperature of water, lack of proper and planned management is also responsible for depletion of coral.

7) Forest: Only one mangrove forest in Bangladesh is the Sundarbans which is not only full of biodiversity but also a very valuable resource for us. It is very important for our economy. Moreover, the Sundarbans works as a protection embankment to prevent natural disasters such as cyclone, hurricane etc. in that area. Recent cyclone Sidr, damaged a large part of the Sundarbans. From a computational study, it is seen that, if the sea level rises by 45 centimeter, around 75% of the only mangrove forest will submerge in water and if the sea level rises by 100 centimeter, then the whole forest and biodiversity there will be lost.

8) Fish Population: The old saying, ?Banglali with fish and rice? is not true today. In Bangladesh, a land of rivers, fish is not abundant now in many rivers as before. Due to climate change, fish habitats, food collection and many physiological processes are disturbed, even they may die. Many fish species and particularly fish fries cannot survive if water temperature is more than 32?. As the higher temperature (35?) favors the growth of pathogenic bacteria, higher water temperature spreads infectious diseases resulting in epidemic fish death. Besides this, due to saline water intrusion, fresh water fish cannot survive.

9) Heath risk: Climate change has been resulting in frequent natural disasters such as devastating floods, cyclones etc. which cause severe water pollution. As a result, water borne disease like cholera, dysentery, diarrhea etc. spread to a great extent. Untimely flood and droughts hamper food production leading to food crisis even it may lead to starvation which will cause extreme health risk. Like fish population, human health will also be affected by infectious organism grown at higher temperature. In Bangladesh, we never heard about the disease like Anthrax before. However, in some districts particularly in Sirajgonj and Pabna, in rainy season, anthrax has been found to be spread and, both people and domestic animals (especially cattle) are infected for the last few years. According to the opinion of veterinarians and dairy farmers, although anthrax in human can be treated, infected animals cannot survive. Due to climate change many deadly pathogens like anthrax may grow.

10) Loss of Biodiversity: Biodiversity is a very important factor for ecological balance. It is estimated that due to climate change, about 30% of biodiversity will be lost in Bangladesh.