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Assessing and Mapping Spatial Variations in Climate Change and Climatic Hazards in Bangladesh

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Climate Vulnerability and Resilience in the Global South

Part of the book series: Climate Change Management ((CCM))

Abstract

Climate change and the frequency and severity of climatic hazards vary significantly by region. There is a pressing need for increased understanding of spatial discrepancies in climate change and climatic hazards within a country and the mapping of areas that require resources to enhance resilience and achieve adaptation and sustainable development goals. This chapter synthesises relevant literature to understand spatial variations in climate change and climatic hazards across Bangladesh. We used data on disaster records from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), administered by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), to analyse vulnerability to climatic hazards (relating to storms and extreme temperatures, for example) and hydrological events such as floods, across 64 administrative districts of the country. The climate-change literature confirms that dramatic variations in temperature and rainfall change are unevenly distributed within Bangladesh. CRED’s disaster records reveal an uneven geographical distribution of vulnerability to different administrative districts’ climatic hazards. The findings have implications for climate adaptation and disaster management, and the methods used could be applied elsewhere in the Global South.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Bagerhat, Barguna, Barishal, Bhola, Chandpur, Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Feni, Gopalganj, Jashore, Jhalakathi, Khulna, Laxmipur, Narail, Noakhali, Pirojpur, Patuakhali, Satkhira, and Shariatpur. Note that in April 2018, the government of Bangladesh changed the English spelling of five districts to avoid inconsistencies with Bengali spellings. The changes: Bogra to Bogura, Barisal to Barishal, Chittagong to Chattogram, Comilla to Cumilla, and Jessore to Jashore.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr A H M Belayeth Hussain (Senior Lecturer, Centre for Research on Women and Gender, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia) for helping prepare the multi-hazard zoning map of Bangladesh.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Environment and Population, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, South Australia, Australia

    Khandaker Jafor Ahmed & Yan Tan

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  1. Khandaker Jafor Ahmed
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  2. Yan Tan
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Correspondence to Khandaker Jafor Ahmed .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh

    G. M. Monirul Alam

  2. Sustainable Enterprise Division, Asia Pacific College of Business and Law, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia

    Michael O. Erdiaw-Kwasie

  3. Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Gustavo J. Nagy

  4. Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

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Ahmed, K.J., Tan, Y. (2021). Assessing and Mapping Spatial Variations in Climate Change and Climatic Hazards in Bangladesh. In: Alam, G.M.M., Erdiaw-Kwasie, M.O., Nagy, G.J., Leal Filho, W. (eds) Climate Vulnerability and Resilience in the Global South. Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77259-8_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77259-8_24

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-77258-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-77259-8

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