Environmental Studies and Disaster Management

Climate change is a global phenomenon being experienced by all levels of society, and in different types of ecosystems. It can have adverse impact on food security, water supply, and livelihood among others, especially for the poor and more vulnerable sections of human society.

Epistemology or sources of knowledge has always been problematic and contentious. This is not only with reference to the issue of hegemony, when the empowered tends to impose its ‘knowledge’ on the disempowered but also with reference to the political contamination of disciplinary quests and treatment of space, which often tends to distort knowledge itself.

In his ninth book on Bangladesh’s physical geography and agriculture, the author draws upon his long experience in observing and studying the country’s physical environment, including its climate. Chapters 1 and 2 briefly describe the country’s diverse physiographic regions and its present climate. Chapter 3 then summarises information on the causes of global warming and possible impacts on climate, and draws attention to the serious limitations of climate models relating to the Indian subcontinent.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) has lost its majestic look. The hills are barren today. The forest resources have decreased to such great extent that official logging that the Bangladesh Forest industry Development Corporation (BFIDC) had performd for decades has come to an end. The Kaptai Dam, Karnaphuli Paper Mill (KPM) and other ‘development icons’ manifest concrete evidences of the ecological devastation today. The indigenous peoples who had a free run in the forest for generations now witness their nexus with nature torn.