Bangladesh Elections 2024: The upcoming elections in Bangladesh, set to be held on Sunday, are expected to result in a fourth consecutive term for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina s ruling Awami League, as the main opposition party, BNP, has decided to boycott the polls.
Serious action is needed to mitigate the climate emergency and minimise associated health risks, write Rubhana Raqib and Mohammad Sirajul Islam
If global warming continues at present rates, the earth’s average temperature will increase by 2.6°C to 4.8°C by 2100.1 In Bangladesh, the projected average temperature rise will be 1°, 1.4°, and 2.4°C by the year 2030, 2050, and 2100, respectively.2 A rise in sea levels will inundate coastal areas with saline water. The unregulated expansion of saltwater reserves for commercial shrimp farms in coastal belts is also accelerating the intrusion of salt water into drinking and irrigation water. This saline intrusion is already affecting 53% of coastal land in Bangladesh.34 Consequently, about 20 million people from coastal areas are forced to use unsafe, contaminated surface water from ponds and rivers, leading to various waterborne infectious diseases such as cholera.5
Saline intrusion in agricultural and pastoral lands results in a loss
From inadequate socialising to development of habits such as consuming unhealthy foods at restaurants, the inadequacy of public spaces has taken a cancerous form at this point.