Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh’s southwestern coast late on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of more than 650,000 people and killing at least 242, the NYTimes reported on Friday. After the weekend, new reports stated that more than 2,400 had died, and 1.5 million had left their homes. And today, government officials reported that the cyclone’s toll had reached 3,113 with more than 1,000 people missing, and many small islands still unsearched.
The storm also had drastic impacts on the longer-term livelihoods of millions. Rivers swelled high enough to break embankments, washing away entire rice paddies and other agricultural fields. 250,000 cattle and poultry died in the floods. More than 773,000 homes were damaged, with the single district of Shaktira suffering from the collapse of more than 5,000 mud homes. Entire communities, entire families, entire futures…
But with the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report outlining the increase in storm intensity, sea level rise, and further degradation of agricultural livelihoods, what more could we expect from storms in the future? How can Bangladesh — and the world — address this future? Only through immediate action on adaptation and mitigation.
After 1991′s cyclone, which caused 20 feet storm surges and claimed more than 120,000 lives, Bangladesh was more prepared for Sidr, with storm preparation and climate change adaptation projects underway. BBC’s reporters, traveling for months by boat through Bangladeshi waterways described crops grown in floating wooden frames designed to float if the regions are submerged, slightly improved weather monitoring and communication (through radio and loudspeakers attached to rickshaws), and better storm preparation education in schools.
But climate change threatens more than increased severity of cyclones and storm events. With sea level rise predicted to accelerate, the areas submerged by Cyclone Bidr could be submerged permanently, including the Sunderbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, which itself shields the inner coastline from cyclone impact and provides home to 270 bird species, 50 reptiles, and 32 mammals (including the Royal Bengal Tiger). A 45 cm rise alone, predicted by the IPCC to occur by 2100, would submerge 75 percent of the Sunderbans according to an UNESCO report on climate change and world heritage sites.
While Cyclone Bidr did have enormous impacts, they are small compared to the impact of future storms, with increased intensity from warmer oceans, higher baseline sea levels, and after the destruction of the best natural protection from storms that Bangladesh has – the Sunderbans. The United States has offered $2.1 million in initial disaster relief, sent two US military ships with 10 helicopters, 35 tons of “non-food items,” a 5 person disaster assessment team and 23 Marines. Seriously?
While it’s unclear that 28 Americans will even help Bangladesh now, what will the United States do in larger storms? What will happen when the millions who evacuated Bangladesh’s coasts become permanent climate refugees? Is Lady Liberty ready to uphold her promise:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
The US delegation to Bali must remember that we have promised to open our doors to the homeless, the tempest tossed… But if President Bush is sending 28 Americans to Bangladesh in the face of Cyclone Sidr, is he prepared to accept 2.8 million Bangladeshis in exchange? In the face of millions of climate refugees, can he ignore real action on climate change? We cannot save the 2,400 who have already perished in Cyclone Sidr, but we can ensure that 2,400 does not become 2,400,000.
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