Action card briefing - June 2008
With a current population of over 145 million
living in an area the size of England and Wales, Bangladesh is one of
the most densely populated agricultural countries in the world. The
majority of the country is a vast flood plain, with land often only 10
metres above sea level. This makes it extremely vulnerable to changes
in the climate.
Flooding and erosion have always been part of
life in Bangladesh and are vital for the renewal of land. However,
severe floods with devastating effects on people’s livelihoods used to
happen once every 20 years. They now occur every 5 -7 years. In 2007
the country suffered two major floods and a cyclone, with devastating
effects.
Each year the river banks
erode around 7 times faster than land is gained, thus forcing riverbank
communities to keep moving. River erosion has been called Bangladesh's
slow, silent disaster. Each year 1 million people are affected by river
erosion and 100,000 more people lose their homes and land. If you’re
poor, you often have no choice but to live on flood-prone land - safe
land is expensive.
As sea levels rise in
coastal Bangladesh, saltwater is destroying the freshwater sources of
riverbank and coastal communities while also destroying vital protective
and fruit-bearing trees and crops. Poverty makes it harder for people
to adapt. Natural disasters, on a small and large scale, make poverty
worse. People there mainly rely on agriculture for survival. Despite
warnings by scientists that a rise of two degrees centigrade could push
the planet and human society to the tipping point of catastrophe, a rise
of only 0.6 degrees centigrade so far is already pushing many of
Bangladesh's poorest people beyond the tipping point.
Actions
Please take action by
writing to your MP at:
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA
concerning the Climate
Change Bill. Please ask them to make sure that they take notice of
current scientific thinking and move towards 80% cuts in emissions by
2050. The Bill is back in the Commons following amendments in the House
of Lords.
One easy way for them to
show their support is to sign a parliamentary petition - called
Early Day Motion 736.
For more in depth
information, please see
http://www.operationnoah.org/takeaction/campaignactions/lobby-government-drive-down-emissions-90-2030
top
|
