December 18, 2009
Climate change refugees flee from Bangladeshi island
Although almost all scientists agree that the world is getting warmer, not all agree exactly what the effects will be.
But in Bangladesh, there is no such certainty, as locals attribute rising waters and lost land to global warming.
Step Vaessen of Al Jazeera English recently traveled to the island of Bhola in southern Bangladesh, where more than a million people have had to flee to higher ground.
6 comments
climate change is due to nature — very little is fromthe false concept of “global warming.”
whenever and everytime i make a comment here , it is not posted,and a reply appears= “IT LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE SAID THIS BEFORE “the person responsible for this insilance needs to be discilplined ,,
Not that the United States will take any responsibility for the havoc caused by its average citizens ‘way of life’ — but statistics from 2000 raise some eyebrows… and can only imagine what 2010’s will look like.
* The United States constitutes 4 per cent of the world population
* As much as 5.99 tons of carbon dioxide is emitted per American per year, compared with 0.31 tons per Indian or 0.05 tons per Bangladeshi.
* Despite having just 2 per cent of known oil reserves, the US consumes 25 per cent of the world’s oil production
* There are more than 200 million cars and light trucks on american roads.
* 16 per cent of world oil production goes into american cars alone.
* Is responsible for a quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions in the world - appox. 40,000 pounds of carbon dioxide is released by each US citizen every year - the highest of any country in the world, and more than China, India and Japan combined
* Americans use 50 million tons of paper annually - consuming more than 850 million trees
* According to the Federal Department of Transportation, they use over 200 million gallons of petrol a day
* Motor vehicles account for 56 per cent of all air pollution in The United States
* Every year US industries release at least 2.4 billion pounds of chemicals into the atmosphere
* Around 50 million new cars roll off US assembly lines each year
* More than 1.5 million gallons of oil were spilled into US waters in 2000 alone
* Only 1 per cent of americans travel on public transport, an eighth of those that use public transport in the UK and an eighteenth of those that use public transport in Japan
* The US had 16 major oil spills between 1976 and 1989, whereas France suffered six and the UK five
* The average american produces 864kg of municipal waste per year, almost three times the quantity of rubbish produced annually by an Italian.
So.. sure, let’s blame “These poor folks” for over breeding, for not embracing non-ignorant beliefs and rituals (are there any?) or blame them for building their houses on ’sand.’ Let’s see an island 1314 sq. miles that has been in place for thousands and thousands of years. Sure shouldn’t trust that!!
Bit like building in the south of Florida isn’t it! Or… New Jersey… or… New Orleans… Galveston, Texas… etc., etc.
OR…blame Saudi Arabia… those ‘bastards’ that keep selling the world the oil. Now there is logic at it’s best!! Twisting the West’s arm and making them use nearly 25% of the worlds petroleum resources… let’s bomb them… oh, guess we are… or will be soon anyway!!
…is it global warming?
Let’s see are the sea’s rising because snow and glaciers are melting so quickly due to increasing temperatures Or… is so much snow melting in the mountains that the rivers are rising… huh? Now let me see.. Seems like a hard question… but if I’m not wrong, isn’t this logic pointing out that they are one and the same cause?
Hopefully manbearpig (I do like the name - it so fits the dialog given) will have the same things to say about the eastern U.S. seaboard when it starts going underwater. Hey… building on sediment… stupid, stupid!!
Gee an island made of sediment is eroding, I’m shocked, and in beautiful Bangladesh of all places. These poor folks don’t even have electricity, but they did before? Perhaps overpopulation in contries that refuse through ignorant beliefs and rituals to take resposibility for at least some of the problems they create, such as planting your home on a foundation of sand, then blaming the west for your problems. Send the bill to Saudi Arabia, that is where all this bad oil is comming from.
Your story on the disappearing island of Bhola did not make clear precisely why it is disappearing. Is it being inundated by a rising sea level, or because so much snow is being melted in the Himalayas that the resulting increased volume of water in the river is overflowing the banks of the island? I suspect it is the latter.
Produced by Creative News Group LLC ©2013 WNET.ORG All rights reserved
Distributed by American Public Television
12/31/2009 :: 12:05:35 PM
Secretary Says:
Look at the age of the population. Take each female who is old enough to bear children and does. You can complain all you want on who is the blame of the problems of this country. The real blame is that the population is going up. Faster than the seas raising. This country has been in trouble for decades and yet their goverment turns a blind eye to their population problem. Maybe the Wrath of Allah will sweep over the country bringing its population into proper line. Next time plague breaks out, the government should take their time stopping it.