Intro Quiz: How has Bangladesh adapted to the threat of climate change?

Video: How has Bangladesh adapted to the threat of climate change?

﻿Hello, my name's Miss Adamson, and welcome to lesson eight in the climate change unit of work. In today's lesson, we're going to think about how a specific country, Bangladesh, has adapted to the threat of climate change. For today's lesson, you will need a pen, a pencil, and an exercise book, or at least a piece of paper to write on. If you're missing any of these pieces of equipment, make sure you pause the video now to go and get them and then play it when you're back. Before we make a start, however, on today's lesson, I would like you to write the title at the top of your page, nice and neatly, which is, How Has Bangladesh Adapted to the Threat of Climate Change? And underline it with a ruler. Before we have a think about how Bangladesh have adapted to climate change, we need to understand why they are at risk from climate change in the first place. Now, Bangladesh is specifically at risk from the rising sea levels, due to melting ice sheets and glaciers. The first thing that puts this country at risk is the fact that it's incredibly low lying. Two-thirds of the country is less than five metres above sea level. And 28% of the population also live on the coast, which puts them at risk of displacement from sea level rise and flooding. Even just a three-foot rise in sea level would submerge almost 20% of the country and displace more than 30 million people. And the actual sea level rise by the year 2100 could be significantly more. As well as the sea level rise from the coast, Bangladesh is also at risk from river flooding. Three major rivers running through the country drain from the Himalaya mountains, fed by glacier and snow melt. Now, as the climate warms up, there'll be more and more meltwater running through these rivers, which puts the surrounding areas at risk of flood. This is even more of a risk as 80% of the country is floodplain, which means that any flood water will be able to spread out further and affect larger areas and also more people. Already 30% of the country is flooded every single year. However, some extreme events can cause up to 70% of the whole country to be flooded. Just to recap then, this idea of adaptation before we look at Bangladesh today. There are a range of different ways that humans can adapt to cope with climate change. You've probably heard about adaptations in plants and animals in different habitats. However, we as humans can also adapt. This involves us changing some ways that we live, in this case to cope better with any expected future climate changes. Now, because Bangladesh is at such a high risk from the changing climate, they are already putting a range of adaptation methods in place that we're going to look at today. The first one we're going to think about is this idea of coastal afforestation. Afforestation basically means planting trees. So coastal afforestation is planting more trees on the coast. The aim of this is to prevent coastal flooding from storm surges and also rising sea levels. The most effective vegetation used in Bangladesh floods is mangrove forests, as these are species that naturally exist in the area. The very thick roots from the mangrove forest slow down waves from storm surges, preventing as much damage from these high intensity storms on the coastline and on the population too. In addition to this, planting trees along the coastline protects habitats and also stabilises any land that's at risk of being washed away through coastal erosion. Now we've had a quick think about afforestation on the coast in Bangladesh, let's have a look at this sentence. Coastal afforestation is needed in Bangladesh because... You've got four options for the end of this sentence. Option one says, trees are destroyed by coastal flooding. Option two says, current trees cannot cope with salty water. Option three says, trees slow down the power of storm surges and prevent damage. And option four; trees are needed for firewood. Which one do you think is the correct end to that sentence? When you're ready to have a quick go, you can pause the video to write down the full sentence. And of course, resume it again once you're finished. Well done, the correct answer then is option three. Trees slow down the power storm surges and prevent damage. That means the full sentence should read, coastal afforestation is needed in Bangladesh because trees soak up or intercept water from floods. If you need to correct your answer quickly before you move on, make sure you do now. Now, the second thing we're going to think about, the second method of adaptation we're going to think about is the provision of drinking water. Now, particularly in Southwestern Bangladesh, lack of safe drinking water is a severe crisis due to climate change. And this can cause severe illnesses, such as diarrhoea, dysentery, as well as skin diseases too. A range of climate change related issues can impact clean drinking water, including storms, flooding, droughts, and also increased bacteria growth through warmer climates. One of the major communities at risk in Bangladesh due to this are those on the coast. Due to sea level rise, their drinking water supply's becoming contaminated through salt water, which is unsafe to drink. So a range of schemes are starting to provide a safe source of drinking water for those communities to prevent any of these issues and keep people safe and healthy. So again, let's have a quick recap. Why is drinking water provision important in Bangladesh due to climate change? There are three correct options on your screen. Option one says, storms and cyclones. Option two says, contamination by salty water from sea level rise. Option three says, contamination by floodwater. And option four says, there is no water available in the country. Have a quick think. And I'd like to point to the three on your screen that you think are the correct answers now. Well done, so of course the correct options are option one; storms and cyclones, option two; contamination by salty water from sea level rise, and then option three; contamination from flood water as well. Option four is not correct as there is water available in the country, but not necessarily clean water everywhere. The next method of adaptation Bangladesh is using to cope with climate change are flood shelters. Now, Bangladesh have always had very, very high levels of rainfall and frequent storms. However, this is becoming much worse due to the change in climate. Because of this, larger numbers of people are needing temporary flood shelters like the one you can see on your screen here. These are often raised up on stilts, as you can see with this one, and are often built of solid concrete to ensure they remain stable and protect those inside. Now, the important thing to remember about these is that they are only temporary. They're only intended for use while the flood is actually happening. So people can go back to their homes after. People in Bangladesh have always been used to using these during heavy storms or cyclones that hit the region every single year. However, the use of them is becoming more and more important due to the increase in rainfall and flood risks associated with this, as well as the rising sea levels and coastal flooding too. The next method of adaptation we're going to look at today is the adaptation of agriculture in the country. Now, this is one of the major sources of income in Bangladesh, as well as also providing food for the population. As the climate is changing, many traditional ways of farming are no longer possible. For example, rice paddies in Bangladesh are becoming flooded with too much water, actually killing the crops. Because of this farmers are having to find new varieties of these crops to make sure there's still enough production for income and for their food. Different varieties of these crops prefer different types of weather. Some are flood resistant, some are drought resistant, they prefer warm or hotter temperatures, and some are also salt resistant. So they can actually be grown in areas where coastal flooding means the fields are partially flooded with salt water through the year. Now, on your screen, you have a statement. Drinking water provision is important in Bangladesh because sea level rise, storms and drought are all causing a lack of clean water. Do you think the statement is true or false? Have a quick think and point to the correct answer on your screen. Well done, the correct answer then is false. So current species of crops, for example, rice, can actually be engineered and different varieties of these can be produced that are drought resistant. We don't necessarily need new species. We can just create different varieties of the same species people are already using. So the next method of adaptation we'll look at in Bangladesh is adapting ways of fish farming or fisheries, basically, to cope with an increase of salt water coming into these areas. This might include changing the species of fish they're farming as well as providing shade and additional water to the ponds and rivers used to make sure the fish can survive. So this will mean that there's still enough production, still enough fish production for local people, for their food and also for their income so they can sell it on. So now we've thought about adaptation, so fishing in Bangladesh, have a look at this sentence. Fishing is under threat in Bangladesh due to climate change because... Which of the three options below is not correct? You've got option one, which says, overfishing. Option two, which says, reduced water in lakes and rivers due to higher evaporation. And option three; fresh water becoming contaminated by salty water. I'd like you to point to the one on your screen you think is not correct now. Well done, of course we know option one is not correct. Overfishing might be a problem in Bangladesh, however, this is due to population rise and not necessarily due to climate change. The final method Bangladesh have used to adapt to climate change is through enhanced insurance for the population. Now, due to increased rainfall, flooding and storms, more properties were at risk of damage or even being destroyed by these. Now, as Bangladesh is a developing or an emerging country, many people might not be able to afford to rebuild their homes again and again. Due to this, they often have what's called enhanced insurance or better insurance specifically for flood damage. And this means they receive money from insurance companies after the event towards repairing or rebuilding their homes, which of course would prevent them from becoming homeless. So let's have a think about our final method of adaptation. Why is enhanced insurance for properties, sorry, needed in Bangladesh due to climate change? Option one says, an increased risk of earthquakes. Option two says, an increased risk of flooding. Option three says, an increased risk of theft. While option four says, an increased risk of fire damage. Have a think and point to the one you think is correct on your screen now. Well done, of course option two is correct. Due to climate change, there is a high risk of flooding from rainfall, storms, and sea level rise as well. Now we've gone through the six methods of adaptation Bangladesh are using to cope with climate change, we're going to have a think about matching them up with the problems they're aiming solve. The first thing I'd like you to do is copy down the table on your screen with all of the adaptations used in Bangladesh to cope with climate change and the two headings that you can see. So we've got method of adaptation, and the blank column, what problem would this aim to solve? Make sure you use the full width of your page and a ruler to draw this table. When you're happy to do this, you can pause the video to complete this task. And of course, resume it again when you're finished. Now you've drawn your table, you have the information on your screen to complete the second column. I'd like you to read through the information on your screen and write it next to the adaptation method each problem links to. Again, when you're happy to do this, make sure you pause the video to complete your table. And of course, resume it again when you're finished. Well done, let's go through each of the answers then. So for enhanced insurance, the problem this is going to aim to solve is loss of property through extreme weather or floods, and the locals can't afford to rebuild. For salt tolerant fish farming or fisheries, the problem that they're aiming to solve is that freshwater fish cannot survive in salty water. So locals lose income. The adaptation of using flood shelters is aiming to solve the problem of flooding of land that causes people to have no shelter. For coastal afforestation, you should have flooding in coastal areas due to sea level rise and storm surges. Provision of drinking water links to the problem of flooding and sea level rise causes a lack of clean drinking water. And finally, changes to crops used aims to solve the problem of the loss of crops due to flooding, drought, and increasing salt levels. Well done if you got all of those correct. If you didn't, it's not a problem, just make sure you correct any you need to before you move on. That then brings us to the main task for today's lesson. I'd like you to use the table you've just completed to rank each of the methods from one to six. One being the most effective, and six being the least effective. Now, this is your own opinion. So as long as you can justify why you have each one ranked as you do, that's fine. So you can just write the numbers next to each method in your table. Once you've done this, you have two questions. The first one says, which of the adaptation methods used in Bangladesh is the most effective and why? The second one, that's task number three on the screen, says, which of the adaptation methods used in Bangladesh is the least effective and why? Again, this is your opinion. You also have sentence starters on your screen and a box of connectives to help if you need them. Before you have a go though, let's have a quick look at an example. So the first paragraph in your example answer says, I think agricultural changes are the most effective method of adaptation in Bangladesh. They reduce the effects of climate change by preventing a loss of crops due to flooding, drought, and increasing salt levels. So in that first paragraph, we've already said exactly which adaptation method and what it aims to do. Next paragraph says, I think this is the most effective because it means farmers and local people can continue to provide food and income for their communities and families, therefore preventing famine and disease. And this bit of an explanation as to why justified our answer. We've got our reason, so continue to provide income and food, but also develop that a little bit further, so said why that such a good thing. So it prevents famine and disease. Now we've been through the example, it's your turn. Make sure you complete the ranking in your table from one to six. One being the most effective method, and six being the least effective method, and then you can have a go at the two questions about your most effective, number one in your ranking, and your least effective, number six in your ranking. Make sure you use the example we've gone through and the sentence starters and connectives box to help if you need it. If you're happy to have it go without them, that's absolutely fine, as long as you include everything need to. When you're happy to have a go then you can pause the video to complete your task. And of course, resume it when you're finished. That's now the end of today's lesson, and a really big well done on everything you've taken in, in today's lesson. 'Cause it's a lot to go through. Before we finish though, I would like you to take a minute and just write down three key facts you've learned from today's lesson as a quick summary at the bottom of your page. Before you close this lesson fully, make sure you have a go at the quiz attached to this lesson. If you're not too sure about anything in the quiz, remember you can always come back to this video after you've finished it to have another look and recap anything you need to. In today's lesson then, we've been looking at how Bangladesh has adapted to the threat of climate change. Next lesson, we're going to learn about mitigation and what mitigation strategies can be used to cope with climate change as well. I'll see you next time.

Exit Quiz: How has Bangladesh adapted to the threat of climate change?

Completed: How has Bangladesh adapted to the threat of climate change?

This lesson will look at the strategies Bangladesh has developed to cope with climate change and the impacts of it.

Geography

How has Bangladesh adapted to the threat of climate change?

Introductory Quiz

Video

Final Quiz

Lesson Complete