Case Study of Bangladesh Floods 2004

Physical Causes of the Flood

• Located on the Ganges Delta - with hundreds of tributaries joining it.
• Average rainfall before the flood was 300mm per day
• Bangladesh has a monsoon climate - leading to a rainy summer caused by the land being warmer than the sea creating a low pressure
• This low pressure causes moist / wet air to drift over Bangladesh and so heavy rainfall follow
• 80% of Bangladesh is low – lying and so is vulnerable (with 25% being only 1m above sea level) and 50% being below 6m

Human Causes of the Flood

• Heavy deforestation especially in the Himalayas reducing interception of rainwater
• Being densely populated the floodplains were built on, with further deforestation
• High volume of snow melt from the Himalayas