River Salinity and Climate Change: Evidence from Coastal Bangladesh

In a changing climate, saltwater
\n intrusion is expected to worsen in low-lying coastal areas
\n around the world. Understanding the physical and economic
\n effects of salinity ingress, and planning adaptation, are
\n key to the long-term development of countries for which sea
\n level rise has been identified as a major risk from climate
\n change. This paper presents a study conducted in Bangladesh,
\n which quantifies the prospective relationship between
\n climate-induced changes in sea level, temperature, rainfall,
\n and altered riverine flows from the Himalayas, and the
\n spread and intensity of salinization on river water in the
\n coastal zone for 2050. The research takes into account the
\n projected land subsidence of the Ganges Delta, as well as
\n alternative scenarios of upstream withdrawal of freshwater.
\n The…