No Nonsense
Sidr apocalypse and global warming
Tropical cyclone Sidr, raging at an estimated 149 mph, inflicted a death toll of 2,300, (and counting), and estimates of devastation of property (houses, livestock, fish and dairy firm, crops, wild life and forests) run into millions of dollars.
The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, which dispatched 42,000 volunteers to the devastated coastal areas, warned that the toll could hit 10,000 once operations reached the outlying islands. The Bangladesh air force, army and navy personnel are working round the clock, providing food and shelter to the displaced and the dispossessed.
Thanks to the government's massive evacuation of 650,000 people from low-lying coastal areas numerous lives were saved. However, the available shelters could accommodate only about 500,000 of the over 10 million coastal residents exposed to the fury of the cyclone and the tidal waves.
Sidr's devastation has shattered the infrastructure of the country at a time when we are yet to recoup from the recurrent floods that submerged nearly 40% of Bangladesh only three months ago.
Many scientists and environmentalists believe that global warming is the culprit, contributing to the occurrence of recurrent natural calamities in Bangladesh.
"When it comes to global warming impacts, Bangladesh is often a focal point because it is a nation of 142 million people living in low-lying, flood-prone river deltas. And that makes cyclone Sidr a big, glaring warning signal. Shockingly, it's a warning signal that the major U.S. media is ignoring," writes Dan Shapley, editor of The dailygreen.com.
Although the frequency and intensity of hurricanes are yet to be definitively linked to global warming -- the evidence of sea level rise, however, is undeniable; what is somewhat contentious though, is the degree to which, and speed with which, water level will rise.
In a report entitled "The Age of Consequences: The Foreign Policy and National Security Implications of Global Climate Change," released days ago by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for a New American Security, claims that Bangladesh "will be threatened by devastating floods and other damage from monsoons, melting glaciers, and tropical cyclones that originate in the Bay of Bengal, as well as water contamination and ecosystem destruction caused by rising sea levels."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, presenting the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report in Valencia, Spain, on November 10, warned that the situation was already "so severe and so sweeping that only urgent global action" could head off the ruinous fallout.
The report estimates that, despite the Kyoto Protocol, greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise anywhere between 25% and 90% by 2030, contributing to an increase in global warming of around 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade.
Environmental scientists predict up to an 85% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions is a must to head off potential catastrophic weather changes that could lead to more calamitous floods and famines.
Although, the Kyoto treaty, due to expire in 2012, was a global effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, the US and China are two of only a few nations that walked away from signing the protocol. That made every Kyoto treaty signatory wonder about the utility of the protocol.
Both China and the US must realise that many developing countries are naturally prone to seasonal cyclones and floods that cause havoc to life and property. The inexorable global warming, with its perilous consequences, is simply pushing countries like Bangladesh towards devastation of apocalyptic proportion.
In 1970, over 500,000 people were killed by a cyclone, and some 140,000 died in 1991. Dozens of other cyclones have taken more than 60,000 lives since 1960. A tornado in 1996 flattened 80 villages in northern Bangladesh, killing 621 people.
After the 1991 cyclone, development partners and the Bangladesh government began building emergency shelters, each with a capacity to hold anywhere from a few hundred to 3,000 people. More than 2,000 such shelters have since been built. The country needs more shelters -- many times more.
The devastation inflicted by Sidr must raise the consciousness of all nations contributing to global warming to be steadfast and forthcoming with unprecedented level of humanitarian gestures to help Bangladesh (and countries in similar situations) build more shelters, while cutting the damage to the environment by restricting greenhouse gas emissions.
Although, Dhaka has decided against seeking outside help for the Sidr devastation, voluntary gestures have already started pouring in. Needless to mention -- any help,material or otherwise, will be heartily acknowledged by the people of Bangladesh.
But the response of the US (our homeland) in coming to the rescue of our motherland carries a diffent nuance -- one that offers unique perspectives and priceless pride to those we left behind there.
Two American navy amphibious assault ships -- the USS Essex and USS Kearsarge with 3,500 Marines aboard, each carrying helicopters and hovercraft equipped with hospital facilities -- have been dispatched to join rescue operations in cyclone Sidr devasted areas.
When "Bloomberg.com" quoted David Griesmer, spokesman for the US Pacific Command in Hawaii, assuring that more ships may be made available as needed, we felt that our homeland (the US) had constructed a bridge of unrelenting goodwill with the people of our motherland.
When the State Department spokesman Sean McCormack (November 16) announced that the U.S. Mission in Bangladesh, anticipating the storm, pre-positioned 16 Zodiac boats, water treatment systems, water ambulances and food for a more rapid response, we felt as if our homeland and our motherland had become "one land."
Dr. Abdullah A. Dewan is Professor of Economics at Eastern Michigan University.
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