Assessing vulnerability and adaptation strategy of the cyclone affected coastal area of Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is a land of natural calamities. Due to locational disadvantages, especially being situated at the tip of the funnel-shaped Bay of Bengal on the south and at the foot of Himalayas on the north, every year it experiences a number of different types of natural calamities, such as flood, cyclone, river bank erosion, drought etc. As a result of climate change events, an increasing trend in frequency has been observed in recent time. Spatial distribution of natural calamities portraits northern part as prone to flood, western part to drought, eastern part (basically hilly region) to flash flood and southern part to cyclone. The Southern part, especially the coastal belt of the country is the worst affected area to cyclones and their ultimate effects. Among these cyclones, Aila was a severe one that tore through the area in 2009 affecting the livelihood of the inhabitants. This study is an effort to discuss the inhabitants’ vulnerability and their adaptation strategies to economic changes caused by Aila, such as occupation, income, expenditure capacity, savings, housing structures, general and agricultural land use etc. For the study required data has been collected from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data have been collected through questionnaire survey and group discussion while secondary data, especially satellite images have been collected from Google Earth. Then different softwares like SPSS have been used for analysis and graphic presentation of the collected primary data, and ERDAS IMAGINE and ArcGIS have been used for mapping analysis and presentation. The research findings indicate that because of the cyclone Aila, economy of the area has taken downturn. Most of the people were engaged in agriculture allied activities, but after Aila, agricultural land had been converted into aquaculture. Consequently, people have switched to occupations with lesser earnings, such as daily labour, rickshaw puller, brick field worker etc. As a result, people had to reduce all sorts of daily consumptions to cope up with the changing situation. The Governmental Organisations and the Non-Governmental Organisations extended little help to rebuild houses, embankment, road, reforestation etc. but not towards any income generates activities. So, the livelihood of the people is still vulnerable in terms of economy, and attention of the responsible authorities needs to be drawn to create income generating activities to recover the vulnerable situation in the study area.

Climate-Induced Coastal Hazards, Impacts and Adaptation Responses: A Systematic Review

“…Figure 1 depicts the distribution of research articles published each year on climate-induced coastal hazards and coastal adaptations, which were used in this review. The findings of this review pointed out that Bangladesh was the leading country based on the number of studies published on the impacts of climate-induced coastal hazards and coastal adaptations (20%) [16,23], followed by USA [24,25], which accounts for about 15% (Table 1). Furthermore, both the number of investigations that were conducted on global scales (reviews) and in India had the third rank [26,27].…”

Cyclone vulnerability assessment in the coastal districts of Bangladesh

“…The following are the fundamental elements of the IPCC framework for evaluating the susceptibility of coastal areas in the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). : exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity and vulnerability assessment [ 14 ]. The updated IPCC 2014 AR5 underlined the growing vulnerability of coastal regions to cyclones due to climate change, with a particular focus on rising sea levels and increased storm intensity.…”

“…It stressed the need for comprehensive and sustainable strategies to reduce this vulnerability, including adaptation measures, the preservation of natural coastal defenses, and social equity considerations to protect vulnerable communities. This information continues to inform policies and actions aimed at mitigating the impacts of cyclones in coastal areas around the world [ [13] , [14] , [15] ]. Several studies have been performed over the coastal region of the world to detect coastal vulnerability of cyclone using IPCC framework.…”

Investigating Loss and Damage in Coastal Region of Bangladesh from Migration as Adaptation Perspective: A Qualitative Study from Khulna and Satkhira District

“…Due to its frequent exposure to climate-induced catastrophes (e.g., floods and cyclones), the southwestern littoral region of Bangladesh may be regarded as a potential nadir for climate migrants. Consequently, one of the primary destinations for these individuals is identified as Khulna City Corporation, the third most expansive city in Bangladesh, which serves as the closest territorial center [48][49][50][51][52][53][54]. The purpose of the study is to investigate the loss and damage of coastal regions from the standpoint of adaptation, as well as to determine when migration becomes a crucial strategy for mitigating L&D effects.…”