Original Research

The implications of population growth and climate change on sustainable development in Bangladesh

Md. Sanaul H. Mondal
Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies | Vol 11, No 1 | a535 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v11i1.535 | © 2019 Md. Sanaul H. Mondal | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 26 August 2017 | Published: 10 January 2019

About the author(s)

Md. Sanaul H. Mondal, Department of Transdisciplinary Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan; and, Department of Social Relations, East West University, Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is characterised by its large population on a small land, rapid and unplanned urbanisation, rising urban inequalities, food and nutritional insecurity and lower level of resilience to climate change. These combined effects are major threats to food security of the country in the near future. This paper examined the implications of population growth and climate change on sustainable development of Bangladesh. This research was based on the analysis of chronological data and synthesis of literature on population growth, greenhouse gases emission, climate change, food security and sustainable development, mainly contextualised on Bangladesh. The analysis found that the population of Bangladesh has almost doubled between 1980 and 2015. The country shared around 2.2% (in 2013) of global population and contributed only 0.19% of global carbon dioxide emission. On the contrary, climate change is the biggest challenge for the country. An increase in temperature could decline rice and wheat production. Moreover, average monsoon rainfall would be increased as a result of increased temperature. The increase in temperature and rainfall may lead to early arrival and late departure of the monsoon season or an increase in mean daily rainfall intensity. Population growth and climate change have multiple implications on development. Therefore, sustainable development may be difficult to attain if climate change continues to jeopardise economic growth, environmental stability as well as the social progress of Bangladesh.

Keywords

geography and environment; disaster management; population; reproductive health; gender and development

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Crossref Citations

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