Worldwide, densely populated coastal areas continue to grow in both numbers of people and levels of economic activity. Yet climate change directly threatens the lives and livelihoods of inhabitants of low-lying coastal regions. The damage from sea-level rise, increasing soil and water salinity, and intensified storm surges is already substantial, and these risks will continue to grow in the coming decades.
Along with more obvious signs of these risks, such as damage to coastal infrastructure from cyclones, there are less visible but no less serious threats to the goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity, such as increasing soil and water salinity. Bangladesh is an extremely useful case study for identifying and measuring these worldwide threats. In this talk, Lead Environmental Economist Susmita Dasgupta will summarize five years of multidisciplinary research on climate change impacts, livelihood threats, and adaptation possibilities for the poor living in coastal Bangladesh.
Last Updated: Mar 24, 2016