Climatic factors on local scale
As can be seen from the various sections on Bangladesh in this website, climatic variables at the global level may differ considerably from the local or national level.
For example, global warming has been considerably higher in the northern high latitudes than in the temperate or mid latitudes where Bangladesh resides.
Sea surface temperatures vary considerably and have been relatively restrained in the Bay of Bengal.
Sea level rise has also been modest in the coastal regions of Bangladesh, although higher in the east than the west due to variable sedimentation deposit patterns of the big GBM rivers.
The low-lying nature of Bangladesh within the GBM delta brings elevated risks of flooding as sea levels rise. On the other hand, this risk of flooding has long been present and local residents have adapted in various ways from use of country boats to raising houses up on elevated earthen platforms or plinths built above the normal flood maximum.
Some of the vector borne diseases predicted to be exacerbated by climate change, like malaria, are already present at the highest elevations, and probably cannot expand their range as they might do in mountainous countries like Papua New Guinea or east Africa.
Heat stress is a growing challenge in many temperate and tropical countries but it is possibly moderated somewhat by proximity to the ocean (Bay of Bengal) and many rivers. Certainly, the extreme temperatures experienced in central and western India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan do not occur in Bangladesh. The heat island effect in the densely crowded urban areas will almost become a more serious problem in the near future.
Apart from these rather positive factors, there are serious challenges, in particular outdoor air pollution, the negative effects of which are exacerbated by climate factors like heat, are amongst the worst in the world. This is combined with incomplete data systems for monitoring health, especially mortality, but also morbidity, to ascertain impact.
