Bangladesh faces climate change refugee nightmare DHAKA
(Reuters) - Abdul Majid has been forced to move 22 times in as
many years, a victim of the annual floods that ravage
Bangladesh. There are millions like Majid, 65, in Bangladesh and
in the future there could be many millions more if scientists'
predictions of rising seas and more intense droughts and storms
come true. "Bangladesh is already facing consequences of a sea
level rise, including salinity and unusual height of tidal
water," said Mizanur Rahman, a research fellow with the London-
based International Institute for Environmental Development. "In
the future, millions of people will lose their land and houses.
Their survival will be threatened," Rahman told Reuters. Experts
say a third of Bangladesh's coastline could be flooded if the
sea rises one meter in the next 50 years, creating an additional
20 million Bangladeshis displaced from their homes and farms.
This is about the same as Australia's population. Saline water
will creep deeper inland, fo