popn density: 1,115/km2, Very low lying flat land- 70%<1m above sea level, 80% classed as floodplain.
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Rivers in location
Ganges, Meghna, Brahamputra- forms a delta= Bay of Bengal
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Himalayas/land
melting snow, deforestation and soil erosion. All increase discharge. Increase soil erosion= more silt= raised river beds= reduced river capacity
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Rivers/Rain
High discharge where rivers converge at bay. Ganges: 500mm of rainfall per day, diverted for irrigation= floodplain not built up. Monsoon rainfall. Cyclones from bay of bengal
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Human causes of flooding:
Increasing pop: more settlements built, deforestation= impermeable land. LEDC- lacks money to protect/prevent flooding.
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Human impacts
30 million affected, 1500 dead , 30,000 villages damaged, bridges and roads damaged, 900,000 homes destroyed, 20% decrease in production in exports- 400 clothing factories closed. Food shortages
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Environmental impacts
2/3 of land covered by water, Dhaka 2m underwater (usual safe place), damage to farmland- loss of rice production, loss of livestock ($500 million)
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Benefits of floods
Water for crops and flood deposits very fertile rich soil.
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Response: previous
Houses had been built on raised platforms above avg. flood level, over 10,000km of embankments built- Flood action plan 1989-1995
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Response 1998 : short term
international aid- mostly food, govt. distributed free seed to farmers, govt. gave 350,000 tonnes of cereal, volunteer programmes
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Response 1998: long term
More houses built on platforms and higher platforms, flood/cyclone shelters built on high land, groynes in rivers, emergency medical stores and flood warning systems in villages.
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Issues due to LIC
Govt. wanted to have dam constructions upstream and major embankments around Dhaka, but could not due to insufficient resources/funds
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Evaluation of response:
Most embankments were breached in 1998 floods, also the embankments built remove the positives of water supplying land with rich soil, After 1998: floods in 2004, 2007,2010 caused major damage
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Difficulties
Bangladesh has a multitude of factors that mean that it is very very difficult to prevent flooding and prevent serious damage due to the location and nature of the land and climate.
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
Rivers in location
Back
Ganges, Meghna, Brahamputra- forms a delta= Bay of Bengal
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