Retreating Himalayan icefields threatening drought in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is the front line of global warming, with rivers drying up, and increasingly common freak weather conditions that include out-of-season tornadoes and tides that have stopped changing. The entire country is one huge delta, formed by the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers. Flooding may seem to be Bangladesh's greatest enemy, but in fact the rivers are its lifeline. They are the main source of fresh water for a country where agriculture represents 21 per cent of the economy. And environmentalists fear that if the Himalayan glaciers melt, the rivers' flow will reduce drastically.

Most people tend to think the main risk in Bangladesh is a catastrophic flood from rising sea levels. But the country has a defence against that: a series of dykes along the coast which should be able to withstand predicted rises in the sea level. There is no defence against drought.

Professor Ainun Nishat, one of the country's leading climate experts, says it is the melting of the Himalayan glaciers that worries him most - more than rising sea levels or changing local weather patterns. "At the moment, we're probably seeing a slight increase in the river flow because of [the glaciers melting]," he says. "But what happens in two to five years when the glaciers are gone?"

The north-west faced an unprecedented drought last year, after the annual monsoon rains failed completely. Farmers had to resort to pumping ground water to survive, but they fear the ground water will dry up if the rains fail again.

In the south-west, trees in the famous Sundarbans wildlife reserve, home to the world's largest remaining population of wild tigers, are dying out - and falling river levels may be one reason. Bangladeshi scientists believe the trees are dying because of rises in salinity levels in the mangrove swamps. That could be because rising sea levels are inundating the swamps, but it could also be that the river flow has reduced in recent years.

More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2401715.ece