GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND BANGLADESH ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

This research work is an attempt to conceptualize and sketch a possible creation of an alliance of the Global Water Cycle and Climate Change with the aim to contribute towards Bangladesh coastal belt and it would be building a sustainable future plan in the water resources and management program of the area and may leads in the other part of low laying areas of the world. Bangladesh has about 710 km long complex shoreline. It extends along the Bay of Bengal from the mouth of the Naf River in the southeast to the mouth of the Raimongal River in the southwest. The coastal morphology of the country is a very complex and dynamic system undergoing continuous changes as a result of active delta building processes. With the exception of the hilly region in the east, the entire central and western part of Bangladesh is drained by the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna Rivers, which together have developed one of the largest deltas of the world. The coastal zone of Bangladesh is unique in the sense that it is located at the land-sea interface, and is thought to be ecologically very sensitive. The zone may be described as the transitional area between the two environmental domains – the continental and the marine. One of the major consequences of increased surface air temperature and intense floods is the rise of sea level. Coastlines in some parts of the world are unstable due to tectonic activities and isostatic adjustments changes in sea level should, therefore, be considered relative to such shifts in coastal topography as a result of continuing geologic activity. The sea level usually rises due to thermal expansion of near-surface ocean water and melting of snowfields, ice-sheets and glaciers. During the last 100 years, the sea level has risen by about 10-15 cm (Gornitz et al. 1982). Increased surface water and groundwater salinity and groundwater head declination in the lean period were observed in the southwest Bangladesh (Hassan, 1992).