Dr. Zahid: Bangladesh is a disaster-prone country and almost every year, the country experiences disasters like tropical cyclones, storm surges, coastal erosion, floods, droughts and saline water encroachment in the coast. Because of its geographic location and low lying topographic condition, Bangladesh is likely to be in extreme vulnerable conditions under the current scenario of changing climatic conditions. Especially the low lying coastal area is at maximum risk. Groundwater is the major source of fresh water across much of the country but there has been very little study on the potential effects of development stresses and climate change on this resource. All components of the system e.g. recharge, discharge, storage and quality can be affected by changes in both climate and population stresses. (more…)