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Climate change makes living conditions worse in cities

Posted on January 21, 2010 by Alok Amatya
Topics: Climate and Environment
Countries: Bangladesh
Thousands of Bangladeshi environmental refugees migrate to Dhaka every year as a result of climate change. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/uncultured/1795388010/">uncultured (flickr)</a>
Thousands of Bangladeshi environmental refugees migrate to Dhaka every year as a result of climate change. Photo: uncultured (flickr)

Big cities are likely to strain under the weight of "environmental refugees" as climate change takes effect, according to a recent story in The New York Times. The story looks at the capital city of Bangladesh where three million people came from rural areas hit by natural disasters.

Dhaka is the last resort for people like Mukhles Rahman, who have lost their homes in floods and other natural disasters. “We are trying to find another place to go, because all the land back home is dissolving,” Mukhles said to the Times, “But there aren’t jobs in other cities or villages.” However, Dhaka's already scarce resources like water, electricity and waste disposal are being stretched by the influx of environmental refugees. Like Mukhles, half of Dhaka's 12 million residents already live in slums that lack basic sanitation and drinking water.

Experts say that climate change is likely to cause more severe and frequent storms over the coming years, says the New York Times. Which means that that that even more people will become environmental refugees.

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Keywords: climate change, environmental migration

Comments

Fri, 01/29/2010 - 06:18 — Mary_Jefferson (not verified)

Changes

I am noticing that the term environmental change is taking the place of global warming. This could possibly be because global warming is a hard sell. Especially when there is proven corruption in the ranks of those who are shoving it down our throats. There will always be natural disasters and storms no matter what we do. It is up to us to prepare or not live in those prone areas. casino online

Fri, 02/05/2010 - 13:05 — Sarah Standish in Portland, Oregon

Actually

I don't think that's the reason "climate change" is taking the place of the term "global warming". "Climate change" is simply more accurate because it takes into account the very different kinds of changing weather patterns that are occurring all over the world, not just rising temperatures.

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