Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies

About: Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies is a nonprofit organization based out in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Climate change & Population. The organization has 62 authors who have published 82 publications receiving 3701 citations.

Assessing Dangerous Climate Change Through an Update of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) "Reasons for Concern"

Abstract: Article 2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [United Nations (1992) http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf. Accessed February 9, 2009] commits signatory nations to stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that “would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference (DAI) with the climate system.” In an effort to provide some insight into impacts of climate change that might be considered DAI, authors of the Third Assessment Report (TAR) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identified 5 “reasons for concern” (RFCs). Relationships between various impacts reflected in each RFC and increases in global mean temperature (GMT) were portrayed in what has come to be called the “burning embers diagram.” In presenting the “embers” in the TAR, IPCC authors did not assess whether any single RFC was more important than any other; nor did they conclude what level of impacts or what atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases would constitute DAI, a value judgment that would be policy prescriptive. Here, we describe revisions of the sensitivities of the RFCs to increases in GMT and a more thorough understanding of the concept of vulnerability that has evolved over the past 8 years. This is based on our expert judgment about new findings in the growing literature since the publication of the TAR in 2001, including literature that was assessed in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), as well as additional research published since AR4. Compared with results reported in the TAR, smaller increases in GMT are now estimated to lead to significant or substantial consequences in the framework of the 5 “reasons for concern.”

Vulnerabilities and responses to climate change for Dhaka

Abstract: The relationship between climate change and cities is complex. City- based activities contribute signifi cant amounts of greenhouse gases and, simul- taneously, are often more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Dhaka is now the world's eighth largest city and a signifi cant proportion of Bangladesh's greenhouse gases are generated there although, relative to total emissions world- wide, the contribution is negligible. But this contribution is likely to increase rapidly with the continuing growth of the city's population, economy and electri- city consumption, as well as increased motor vehicle use. At the same time, Dhaka is prone to damaging and costly fl ooding, both from the rivers that bound it and from rainfall that generates runoff that is beyond the capacity of the drains. In less than 20 years, the city has faced three major fl oods, each causing huge damage and economic loss. Although the government has taken a number of measures to improve both Dhaka's air quality and its capacity to withstand fl oods, there are further opportunities in both areas. This paper discusses, in specifi c terms, the scale of the threats, the measures taken to address them and the potential for more effective action. Mozaharul Alam is a Research Fellow at the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) and works on global environmental change and development integration with special focus on adaptation to climate change. He is involved in several national and international activities and also in capacity building of civil society organizations in the Least Developed Countries to address climate change.