1. Lauren ―Brooke‖ Allen, Jacob Alpuerto, Kerstin Alander, Krystal
Arend, Ashley Attanucci, Victoria Baughn, Min Beto, Jessica
Buckner, Shelby Brant, Raymond ―Cruz‖ St. Peter, Randi Belz,
Eric Ables, Thomas Berezoski
BESC 201 Fall 2011

2. (Dr. D‘s Lectures)

3. • Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2008 Ministry of Environment and Forests Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, September 2008
• Dr. D‘s lectures
• Haggett, Peter (2002) [2002]. "The Indian Subcontinent". Encyclopedia of World Geography. New York: Marshall Cavendish. pp. 2, 634. ISBN 0761473084. OCLC
46578454. Retrieved 2008-05-02
• http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/atlas/qt/climateBangla/htm
• http://beta.adb.org/countries/bangladesh/main
• http://buddingplanet.com/plastic-bags-causing-flooding-problems
• http://chrisy58.wordpress.com/2010/03/21/how-the-west-poisoned-bangladesh/
• http://frozen-momentz.blogspot.com/2009/10/glimpse-of-mangrove-sunderbans.html
• http://phys4.harvard.edu/~wilson/arsenic/pictures/arsenic_project_pictures2.html
• http://seetell.jp/en/1154
• http://smeagol.terrace.qld.edu.au/intranet/curriculum/geography/yr9webquest/hazard.htm
• http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/arsenic/index.cfm
• http://wn.com/Economy_of_Bangladesh
• http://www.adb.org/Documents/CEAs/BAN/BAN-CEA-Jul2004.pdf
• http://www.adb.org/Documents/Fact_Sheets/BAN.pdf
• http://www.amarlondon.com/gandc.php
• http://www.bmj.com/content/322/7287/626.full
• http://www.indexmundi.com/bangladesh/gdp.html
• http://www.insituarsenic.org/principle.html
• http://www.nktravelandtourism.com/gallary/jaf1.php
• http://www.pmo.gov.bd/pmolib/legalms/pdf/National-Policy-4-Arsenic-Mitigation-2004.pdf
• http://www.source.irc.nl/page/32583
• http://www.touriffictravels.com/destinations/bangladesh/
• http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/Arsenic.pdf
• http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/RURAL_Water_Sanitation_and_Hygiene.pdf
• http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/wes_420.htm
• http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/bangladesh_35701.html
• http://www.worldbank.org.bd/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/BANGLADESHEXTN/0,,menuPK:295769~pagePK:141132~piPK:141107~theSitePK:
295760,00.html
• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bg.html
• Roland, B (January 6, 2005). "Bangladesh Garments Aim to Compete". BBC. Retrieved January 1, 2010
• Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff. Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World, 3rd Ed. Pearson Education, Inc. 2011

4. • 16th Century: Europeans began to set up trading posts in the
area of Bangladesh
• Eventually the British came to dominate the region and it became part
of British India
• Also in Dutch possession
• 1947: West Pakistan and East Bengal (both primarily Muslim)
separated from India (largely Hindu) and jointly became the
new country of Pakistan
• 1955: East Bengal became East Pakistan
• The awkward arrangement of a two-part country with its territorial units
separated by 1600 km left the Bengalis marginalized and dissatisfied
• 1971: East Pakistan seceded from its union with West
Pakistan
• Renamed Bangladesh

5. • Country‘s population:
158,570,535 as of July
2011
• 7th most populated
country in the world
• Overpopulation is a
key issue
• Hugely dense
populations
• The ―largest poorest
nation‖
• Main language: Bengali
• World‘s 9th most
spoken language

6. • 850 females for every 1,000 males
• Males are the selective favored sex
• Creates problems in health care and nutrition of women
• Difficult for women to get jobs

7. • Primarily deepened plateau
• Most of the country is situated on deltas of large rivers flowing
from the Himalayas
• Mostly flat alluvial plain
• Hilly in southeast
• More than 18,500 acres of swampland in the Sunderbans
region have been submerged because of 3.3 foot rise in sea
level
• A 2007 report from the Indian government suggest that up to 7
million people could be displaced from coastal areas by the end of
the century

8. Elevation Extremes:
Lowest Point– Indian Ocean (0m)
Highest Point—Keokradong (1,230m)
Border Countries:
India and Burma
Right on the Tropic of Cancer—the
northern tropic

9. The Chittagong Hill Tracts Tea Garden in Jaflong
Ganges Delta Sunderbans

10. • 40% of the population
is below poverty line
• Labor force is very
high—$73.86 million
• Unemployment +
underemployment =
45%
• 5% unemployed
• 40% underemployed

11. • The economy has grown 5-6% per year since 1996
• The country is mainly an agricultural producing economy
• Rice is the largest crop
• 4th largest rice producers in the world
• More than three quarters of Bangladesh‘s export earnings
come from the garment industry
• Which began attracting foreign investors in the 1980s due to
cheap labor and low conversion cost
• Bangladesh has been ranked as the 4th largest clothing
exporter by the World Trade Organization
• 3 million workers employed, 90% are women
• Trafficking tier 2 watch list
• The government didn‘t handle the convictions properly
and people aren‘t afraid to be in trafficking

14. • Parliamentary democracy
• Conventional long form: People‘s Republic of
Bangladesh
• Conventional short form: Bangladesh
• Former: East Bengal, East Pakistan
• Capitol: Dhaka
• Independence day: 26 March 1971 (from West Pakistan)

15. • President: President Zillur Rahman
• elected by the National Parliament for a five-year term
(eligible for a second term)
• Legislative Branch: unicameral National Parliament
• 300 seats (45 reserved for women)
• Elected by popular vote from single territorial constituencies
• Members serve five-year terms
• Judicial Branch:
• Supreme Court—the chief justices and other judges are
appointed by the president
• Legal System: mixed legal system of mostly English
common law and Islamic law

16. • Regional differences are minor
• Three seasons are generally recognized:
• Tropical; mild winter (October to March)
• Hot, humid summer (March to June)
• Humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
• Annual Precipitation: 75.6 in.
• Lowest: 15 in./month
• Highest: 22 in./month
• Heavy rainfall is characteristic of Bangladesh
• Annual rainfall average: 200 centimeters per year
• ~80% of rain falls during the monsoon season
• Monsoons result from the contrasts between low and high air
pressure areas that result from differential heating of land and
water
• Temperature:
• Lowest: 60F
• Highest: 95F

17. • Widely recognized to be highly vulnerable to
climate change and natural hazards, prone to
• Natural floods
• Tornados
• Cyclones
• Droughts
• Summer monsoon season

18. • Most severe flooding in modern world history
• Two-thirds of the country was under water
• Destroyed 300,000 houses, 9,700 kilometers of road
and 2,700 kilometers of embankment
• 1,000 people were killed and 30 million more were
made homeless
• 135,000 cattle killed
• 50 square kilometers of land destroyed and 11,000
kilometers of roads damaged or destroyed

19. • 1. Unusually high
monsoon rains
• 2. Himalayas shed an
equally, unusually high
amount of melt water
• 3. Trees that usually
would have
intercepted rain water
were cut down for
firewood or to make
space for animals

24. • Exist as natural deposits in the earth or from industrial
and agricultural pollution
• More than 57 million civilians affected
• Significantly lower standards held by Bangladesh
• 50 μg/l versus WHO‘s 10 μg/l standard
• Largest case of mass-poisoning
• 1.12 million tube wells are polluted

29. • Non-cancer
• thickening and discoloration of the skin,
stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,
numbness in hands and feet, partial paralysis,
blindness and blackfoot disease
• Cancer
• bladder, lungs, skin, kidney, nasal passages,
liver, and prostate
• estimated 40,000 cases of arsenicosis
• Cases expected to rise to 2.5 million in next
50 years

30. Areas
Arsenic in Ground Water

32. Water Pollution Control Ordinance
• Enacted in 1970s
• Repealed and replaced by Environmental Pollution
Control Ordinance of 1977
• Replaced again by Environmental Conservation Act
• Replaced yet again by Environmental Conservation
Rules of 1997
Bodies of Water Conservation Act 2000
• Protects minor bodies of water as well as large bodies of
water
• Establishes standards that limits carbon emissions from
factories
• Contains many loopholes and is insufficient

33. National Water Policy 1999
• Establishes institutions to purify water
• Addresses water rights, allocation and public and private
investment
• Success depends largely on peoples‘ participation
• Ineffective overall
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA)
• Minimize pollution by limiting amount of cruising vessel
activity
• Responsible for maintaining vessels to proper standards
to prevent oil leaks into water

34. National Policy for Arsenic Mitigation
• Public awareness (health risks, social factors, and
awareness of alternate sources)
• Alternative sources (surface water not groundwater,
technologies, endeavor piped water systems
• Protocols for arsenicosis management (prevention,
treatment, and rehabilitation)
• Capacity building (monitoring of water, laboratories, and
government experts)
• Institutional arrangement ( creation of higher and lower
committees.)
• Research and development ( learn more and develop
proposals to regulations)

35. • UNICEF
• United Nations (UN)
• Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• World Bank

36. Arsenic Mitigation and Measurement Project:
• communication in order to raise awareness of arsenic
contamination and its effects
• blanket testing of tube-wells
• identification of patients with arsenic poisoning
(arsenicosis)
• providing assistance to obtain safe water supplies
• being carried out in 45 out of 264 ‗hot spot‘ upazilas
• sub-districts cover 10% of the country and include 20% of the
most contaminated areas

37. Project Achievements:
• 3,700 safe water options installed
• national arsenic database established
• survey of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on
arsenic completed in 15 upazilas.
• The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS)
taking increasing responsibility for identifying and
managing arsenicosis patients
• Fewer reports of social problems as awareness
increases

38. SHEWA-B Project
The Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water Supply in
Bangladesh Project
• Aimed to educate the health and economic benefits of
proper sanitation, waste disposal and proper hygiene
• 4.5 million children to receive hygiene education
• Implemented through 10,000 community hygiene promoters
across 19 districts in Bangladesh
• Installed 20,000 new safe water points across
Bangladesh
• Reaches 30 million people
• 1.5 million school children to achieve safe water and improved
sanitation

39. • Aid since1973
• $12.1 billion loaned
• natural resource, agriculture, social infrastructure, transportation
and energy
• Combat major communicable diseases
• Ensure equitable and sustainable access to safe water
supply and sanitation
• Focus on strengthening municipal management and local resource
mobilization
• Promote environmental and occupational health

40. • Governmental support on growth; infrastructure; climate
change and disaster management; human and social
development
• $500 million addressing environmental-related issues
• Enhanced access to clean water, better health, hygiene
and school
• 38% of $3.61 billion portfolio to Infrastructure
• 15% toward Education
• 11% toward Agriculture/Rural Development

42. • Co-precipitation/filtration ―Bucket System‖ (Cheng et al.
2004, Env. Sci. Tech.)
• Filters arsenic to WHO standards
• Contaminated sludge is created. The residual sludge can be de-
wateredand buried in restricted areas. It may be also mixed with
asphalt and cement and used as road base and construction fills.
(Meng et al, 2001)
• Small-scale: per household

43. • None provide long-term sustainable solution
• Costly
• Filters need frequent replacement
• Require specially trained technicians

45. • Local: community-based (100 to 4,000 households)
• Chemical-free
• Successfully implemented in West Bengal, India
• Promising results, reducing arsenic content from 100-250 mg/l to
permissible limit.
• Effective, long-lasting and sustainable
• Creates no waste or arsenic ―sludge‖
• Easy operation and maintenance
• To replace all contaminated wells

46. • The aquifer is used as a natural biochemical reactor and
adsorber.
• Removes As.
• Also removes Iron and Manganese

48. • The aerators increase the dissolved oxygen in the
groundwater.
• This DO oxidizes the harmful As(III) to As(V)
• System takes advantage of indigenous bacteria in the
groundwater.
• Microbes further oxidize the water.

50. • Newly oxygenated H2O is returned to the aquifer.
• The remaining water is kept for general use as As-free
water.

53. • Education
• Proper Pump Operation
• Protection of water supply
• Village plumbers & electricians
• Accurate record keepings of maintenance
• Requires no additional training
• Flood Damage Prevention
• Sloped wall built around pump

54. • Reduces total As concentration to less than WHO
guidelines.
• No sludge is produced
• No chemicals
• Cost of operation: 1 USD per day.
• Plant can produce 2000 liters of drinkable water per day