Environment

World Habitat Day: Habitats not just for humanity, but for life

Through the choppy waters of the Bay of Bengal, our speedboat twisted and turned trying to reach Sonadia Island.

Providing permanent support to the people of Tanguar Haor

I always wanted to take two photographs of the same spot of Tanguar Haor—one in the driest month of the year and one in the wettest.

Solving the climate change problem

The temperature in a small town in Eastern Russia, Verkhoyansk, located 10 kilometres above the Arctic circle, recently pushed to an astonishing 38 degrees Celsius—hotter than the annual average of Dhaka, Toronto, New York, or Los Angeles, during the same time of the year.

Desertification And Drought Day: The threat of parched land

Barsha-Kaal, or the rainy season, has officially arrived this week. If we were not shackled by Covid-19, we would have been welcoming monsoon with singing and dancing at public gatherings, arranging tree fairs, and planting hundreds and thousands of saplings all over the country. A perfect time to make our country greener!

Conservation delayed is conservation missed

In the middle of the devastating coronavirus crisis, we have come across some good news about the environment.

Why should you care about the air you breathe?

If you live in Dhaka, a city that is perennially drowned in a sea of polluted air, you may think that a scarlet sunrise or sunset blazing across the horizon is a sight to behold.

A breath of not so fresh air

We all know that the air quality in Dhaka is bad. Anyone living in the city only has to clean a surface at home in the morning and see the visible layer of dust magically reappear by the time you return from work, or spend a little time outdoors and just feel the air in your throat to know there is a real problem. But how bad is it truly? And are there insights that the data can reveal to us?

Save the environment, not posters

With the Dhaka City Corporation election ready to roll out next month, the capital is brimming with a palpable air of electoral mood.

Why count birds?

On a half-wooden, half-iron boat, a team of men and women in heavy winter gear and heavy-duty binoculars set sail on a very, very cold winter morning on January 5. Their destination was the sandbars and shallow water lagoons of the mighty Padma River.

Is it a new concept for Bangladesh?

Bangladesh’s forests tell us many stories. Let me share three of them.

Arguments for using AI to combat climate change

According to a report published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), in 2018 the average global temperature was recorded to be the fourth highest on record.

Why saving the Sundarbans is so urgent

The severe cyclonic storm Bulbul originated from the Bay of Bengal advancing with a speed of 140 kph and started dwindling when the mouth of the storm crossed the Sundarbans and hit the mangrove forest at a speed of 70-80 km per hour.

How our rivers fared in 2019

The year 2019 saw both good and bad developments for our rivers. On the good side, the first thing to be mentioned is the High Court’s judgement of February 3, declaring rivers as a “legal entity,” having rights similar to a living person.

COP25: Another round of active inaction

The UN’s longest-ever climate negotiations, continuing non-stop for almost two extra days, drew to a close on December 15 with not much to celebrate. Nations on both sides—developed and developing—held hardline positions resulting in utter disappointment, so expressed grudgingly by the UN Secretary General himself. Countries failed to agree on many of the sought-after outcomes, including rules to set up a global carbon market, steps to mobilise dedicated funding for loss and damage (L&D) and mobilisation of long term finance (LTF) for the most vulnerable.