Decadal assessment of mangroves of the Sundarban region under changing climate in Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) delta

Sundarban, the single largest chunk of mangroves spread across the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) delta in India and Bangladesh, is ecologically significant for its diversity and ecosystem services, and experiencing different bio-geo-physical impacts due to the on-going climate change. This study shows that the total Sundarbans incurred a net loss of 113 km2 of mangrove area between 2000 and 2020. India (57 km2) and Bangladesh (55 km2) experienced a net loss of similar magnitudes.The health of the mangroves, especially, in the Indian Sundarban is declining steadily. The adjacent northern Bay of Bengal experienced an increase in the sea surface temperature at a rate of 0.02 °C per year. Three out of four tide stations indicated a regional sea-level rise at varying rates…