The Change Luck City: Dhaka’s Climate Refugees

As many as a half million people flee their homes in Bangladesh each year because of the “devastating effects of climate change – floods, salinization of land, destructive super cyclones, and reduced agricultural yields,” explain Nellie Le Beau and Hugh Tuckfield in an essay with photographs for the Diplomat. “Displaced primarily from Bangladesh’s southern and eastern regions, these are climate change refugees, called the ‘pavement dwellers’ of Dhaka – soon to be the largest megacity in the world.” Many head to the capital city, now ranked the world’s 16th largest megacity, to make their homes in the streets and parks. The country of low-lying river delta is poor and densely populated with more than 150 million people, and Dhaka lacks resources to handle the migrants. For direct risks due to extreme weather, Bangladesh ranks third after China and India, according to the Center for Global Development. – YaleGlobal