17 April 2008

Going

The vast majority of the Bengal coast’s marine life begins in the nursery of the Sundarbans; fifty-three species of reptiles are harbored here, more than two hundred species of birds, and at least fifty species of mammals, including the endangered Irrawaddy and Gangetic dolphins, the Smooth Indian otter and the cheetah-spotted fishing cat. A hundred years ago, there were Java rhino, wild buffalo, and swamp deer.
-- from Tigerland by Caroline Alexander.

When combined to the pressure from a growing human population, what will be the consequences for the Sunderbans of a sea level rise of a meter and half or more?

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