Bangladesh Archives

A boy in a striped t-shirt and shorts steers a long, narrow, and shallow boat with a long pole across a shallow body of water. The boat is laden with rocks. In the background is a marshland with a small group of people and a few tents, and beyond that are forests and mountains. One patch of forest on the right side of the mountains has been stripped bare by a past landslide.

Bangladeshis Feel Increased Consequences of Sedimentation

by Saima May Sidik 30 August 202230 August 2022

In northern Bangladesh, residents are losing their livelihoods, homes, and personal safety when water carries sand and gravel into their communities.

Charts showing frequency distribution of the arsenic concentration for the respective nominal kit categories for the paired dataset.

Editors' Highlights

Field Kits Effectively Predict Arsenic Contamination

by Avner Vengosh 19 January 202228 February 2023

Field kits used in Bangladesh to test arsenic exposure from contaminated drinking water are effective in comparison to expensive laboratory arsenic tests.

View of the Brahmaputra River with the sun low on the horizon

Science Updates

Tree Rings Reveal a 700-Year Record of Flooding in Bangladesh

by Mukund Palat Rao and Benjamin I. Cook 15 October 202115 October 2021

Trees tell of a wetter past along the Brahmaputra River and, combined with climate modeling, suggest heightened future flood risks in one of the world’s most densely populated areas.

The Alaknanda River, seen from stream level, flows among mountains in northern India.

Research Spotlights

Tracking Trace Elements in the Ganga River

by David Shultz 16 October 202016 February 2022

Levels of dissolved trace and heavy metals, which can be toxic, are highly variable across the river basin, concentrating in urban areas with high pollution but diluted by inflow from tributaries.

Charts showing how groundwater pumping in a deeper aquifer reduces its pressure and induces flow of arsenic rich groundwater from the overlying aquifer

Editors' Highlights

Arsenic Pollution in Bangladesh is Catching Up with Deeper Wells

by Marc F. P. Bierkens 3 August 20206 February 2023

Inhabitants of Bangladesh have deepened drinking water wells to avoid extracting arsenic-rich groundwater from shallow aquifers, but these may not be free from pollution either.

Map of Bangladesh showing levels of drinking water salinity

Editors' Highlights

Does Drinking Water Salinity Affect Child Mortality?

by Avner Vengosh 25 June 20206 February 2023

An association between drinking water salinity and neonatal and infant mortality in Bangladesh indicates the critical role of water salinity on child health.

A new initiative uses satellite data, observations, and communication networks to warn Bangladeshis of cholera hazards.

Science Updates

Satellites and Cell Phones Form a Cholera Early-Warning System

by A. S. Akanda, S. Aziz, A. Jutla, A. Huq, M. Alam, G. U. Ahsan and R. R. Colwell 27 March 201824 February 2023

A new initiative combines satellite data with ground observations to assess and predict the risk of cholera outbreaks in Bangladesh’s vulnerable populations.

Dhaka, Bangladesh, has dense residences and skyscrapers; mitigating earthquake hazards here is a “wicked problem.”

Features

The Wicked Problem of Earthquake Hazard in Developing Countries

by M. S. Steckler, S. Stein, S. H. Akhter and L. Seeber 7 March 201816 March 2022

Earthquake preparation in Bangladesh is a conundrum, where crucial information is missing and investments often involve painful trade-offs.

Research Spotlights

Satellite Imaging Improves Study of Sinking River Deltas

by JoAnna Wendel 10 January 201526 October 2022

Researchers know that the Ganges-Brahmaputra river delta is sinking. Now they have an accurate reading on the rate of subsidence.

Features from AGU Journals