BBC’s Bangladesh Boat Diary Goes Live
October 30, 2007 8:36 pm
BBC World Service’s Bangladesh Boat Diary has gone online and live as of October 29.
For the next month, 48 people—scientists, BBC journalists and others—have crammed onto the M.V. Aboshar, a vessel of Guide Tours, to write, photograph and broadcast news from the riverways of Bangladesh.
Their chosen theme is climate change, in which Bangladesh is a focal point because of its unique geographical position in the world. The country is mostly housed within the delta of two major rivers: the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. During the monsoonal rains, a torrent of water comes down from the Himalayas via these rivers, flooding most of the surrounding areas along the way. But that’s not the only reason for the flooding.
Because Bangladesh is also a scant few meters above sea level, it is also particularly vulnerable to tidal surges from the Bay of Bengal. When the tide pushes back against river water coming from the mountains, the water does not drain out from the country with the same efficiency. It is this effect that will become particularly poignant in a climate change scenario—Bangladesh faces a future of flooding when its massive rivers cannot drain out properly because of rising sea levels. Because the tiny nation is almost one of the most densely populated, millions of people will be affected.
The Bangladesh boat diary will be the internet’s version of the journey; users will be able to track the boat’s progress live via the world service website and see the boat’s exact location via an embedded GoogleMap.
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