Changes in Cyclone Pattern with Climate Change Perspective in the Coastal Regions of Bangladesh

Abstract

Climate change has started to alter the way how climatic events take place on the earth. Occurrence and distribution of extreme climatic events are now more frequent and undoubtedly Bangladesh is experiencing the effects of climate change among which the extreme events manifest in a more evident and devastating way. This paper aims at eliciting evidences of the effect of climate change on the characteristics of cyclones of this region. Recent histories of cyclones that formed at the Bay of Bengal and made landfall on the coasts of Bangladesh, ranging from 1795 to 2009, were studied. Frequency of the cyclones has shown an increasing trend along with their intensity. Frequency of weaker cyclones is decreasing and although intensity of the weaker storm is rising, they are rising at a greater rate for the stronger storms and hence there will be large differences among the intensity of the future cyclones. Storm surges show a positive correlation with the intensity of the storms hence greater storm surges can be expected in the future. Storms tracks seem to remain unaltered for a long tract of time. These analyses implicate the necessity to decelerate climate change and also increase awareness among the highly dense population of the coastal regions of the developing countries to reduce damages due to such extreme events.