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48 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What percentage of Bangladesh is delta land? |
80% |
|
How far is most of the nation above sea level? |
Less than one metre |
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What two rivers meet here? |
The Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers |
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What do these two rivers erode and transport? |
The mountains of the Himalayas |
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How much alluvial sediment do these rivers carry and deposit a year? |
~1,820 million tonnes |
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What percentage of Bangladesh lies underwater?
|
10%
|
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What does the percentage of Bangladesh underwater increase to in summer? |
25% |
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Why does an increase in the percentage of Bangladesh underwater occur? |
Flooding from monsoon rains and swollen rivers |
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What are good floods called? |
Barsha |
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What are bad floods known as? |
Bonna |
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What percentage of Bangladesh may be underwater in a bonna flood? |
40% |
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What do the high mountains cause?
|
Wet climates
|
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How high are the mountains? |
Up to 6,000m |
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When does the snow melt? |
April and May |
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What causes the snowmelt? |
Rising spring temperatures
|
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What happens when the snow melts? |
An immense input of water released |
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How long are the river channels? |
2,500km |
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What happens to the snow melt water? |
It overtops the river banks and deposits fertile alluvial sediment for the rice and wheat lands of 'Bengal the Golden' |
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What happens when there is heavy rain? |
The soil becomes saturated leading to surface runoff |
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What is the monsoon called? |
The South East Monsoon of Bangladesh |
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When does the monsoon occur? |
Between June and September |
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How much rain is received between November and April? |
300-400mm |
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How much rain is received in the months of summer? |
1250-1850mm |
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What is the problem is straightening sections of the river to control flooding? |
The problem is moved downstream |
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What dam has caused issues? |
The Farraka dam |
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What does the dam do? |
It holds back water in the dry season and releases it into Bangladesh during the wet season |
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Why is the dam's release unexpected? |
Poor relations with India |
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What has impacted flooding in the upper drainage basin? |
Deforestation in Nepal
|
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What is the rate of land clearance due to deforestation? |
1.7%/year |
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Why has the land clearance impacted flooding? |
Increased surface runoff as trees are not holding water A single oak tree can use up to 150 gallons on water in warm weather |
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Where has urbanisation occurred? |
The capital, Dhaka |
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Why may climate change affect Bangladesh?
|
A sea level raise of 30-50cm will make Bangladesh flood even more |
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What are barsha floods good for? |
The growing of crops in different water depths both for themselves and exports |
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How many species of fish live in Bangladesh's freshwater rivers? |
260 |
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Why are fish important? |
A source of protein and income |
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How does flooding help fishing? |
It extends the aquatic ecosystem by creating breeding ponds and pools |
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What fishing near the coast provides employment for many? |
Prawn fishing |
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What can be found under the ground? |
Aquifers which hold water and can be used with wells for water |
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What flood example is used for figures? |
1998 flooding |
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When did the flooding occur? |
October, 1998 |
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What percentage of the land was covered during this flood? |
65% |
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How many homes were destroyed? |
300,000 |
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How many people were forced to flee? |
2,000,000 |
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How many people were affected across Bangladesh? |
30,000,000 |
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What age groups were most vulnerable? |
The young and old |
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How many roads were washed away? |
11,000km |
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What was the economic impact estimated at? |
£1 billion |
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What crop was almost completely destroyed? |
Kharif |