Asia’s climate crisis is the world’s most serious

◀ Anchor ▶

The climate crisis is a growing threat around the world, and the damage is said to be particularly serious in Asia.

The MBC Climate and Environment team is delivering a continuous project called.

Let’s talk in detail with environmental reporter Minwook Kim, who returned from covering Bangladesh last month.

Last Wednesday, we delivered a report on the damage caused by sea level rise in Bangladesh.

It was really serious.

◀ Reporter ▶

yes. If you actually look at it, you might think, ‘Wow, people really live here?’ It’s shocking enough to make you think:

Even though I watched short videos and photos from overseas media and satellite images during the preparation process, I was very surprised.

Would you like to watch a little bit of the video for viewers who haven’t seen it?

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A small island village appears beyond the boat that went down the river for over three hours.

The appearance of a village in danger.

The base of the tree and the pillars of the house are all submerged in water.

There are many houses floating alone on the water with no connection to other houses.

Kalabagi, a village located in the Ganges Delta, southwestern Bangladesh.

The inside of the house is barely big enough for two adults to lie down.

[존도 탄다르/칼라바기 주민]

“Yes. There was electricity and solar power generation facilities.”

◀ Anchor ▶

So, that means that the village became like that as the sea level rose due to climate change, but it didn’t look like that even a few years ago?

◀ Reporter ▶

you’re right.

The screen you are seeing now is a satellite image of Kalabagi Village in the past. It was originally a long peninsula-shaped village.

However, the width of the village gradually decreased, and just a few years ago, the village was cut off and turned into an island.

It’s now worse than this satellite photo.

The Ganges Delta in southern Bangladesh is one of the largest coastal lowlands in the world.

It is analyzed that sea levels have risen by about 26 centimeters over the past 25 years due to sea level rise, tropical storms, and land subsidence.

Low-lying delta villages like Kalabagi are bound to suffer great damage.

◀ Anchor ▶

We use the term climate inequality, which means that the damage caused by climate change is not fair to everyone, and that word came to mind.

In reality, the reason they can’t leave the village is probably due to money or other things like that.

◀ Reporter ▶

Yes, that’s right.

Climate change is caused by greenhouse gases, but how much greenhouse gases would the people who farmed and fished in rural Bangladesh emit?

However, the damage from the climate crisis is particularly evident in underdeveloped countries.

They say that the Kalabagi residents also originally had their own farmland.

But since the farmland is submerged in water, there is nothing we can do.

Of course, there are many people who have left the village.

The government is also building settlements.

However, many immigrants are being reduced to urban poverty.

The places we move to are often not free from the threat of climate change.

◀ Anchor ▶

Every summer, there seem to be a lot of articles about major floods occurring in Bangladesh or India.

You came here again to report on the affected areas in Bangladesh?

◀ Reporter ▶

This time, we covered areas affected by floods.

I have photographed flooding and landslide damage several times in Korea, and the damage in Bangladesh was truly serious.

Let’s first look at part of the report that was broadcast on October 1st.

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Burburiya village in Cumilia, southeast of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

A 100-meter-long embankment collapsed in a massive flood that even people born and raised here had never seen before.

More than a month has passed since the flood and it has still not recovered.

Mr. Nurumiya lived with his three sons and his wife.

I’ve been sleeping on a plastic wrap on a tree branch for a month now, and at least half of it is occupied by goats.

[누루 미야/부르부리야 주민]

“(I slept on the dam road for a few days) but they told me to leave because they were rebuilding the dam. So I pitched a plastic tent and am sleeping with the goats at night.”

◀ Anchor ▶

I heard that floods are increasing in frequency and intensity in Bangladesh.

I feel very sorry for the children in that affected area.

◀ Reporter ▶

My heart ached a lot while listening to the stories of the children I met during this reporting process.

Mohammed said that he and his family hurried to his grandfather’s house because his house was suddenly flooded in the middle of the night, but he was so scared.

Also, Masoo, a high school student, says that because he lives in a place that floods every year, his clothes get wet on the way to school, so he brings an extra set of school uniforms.

In addition to food and a place to sleep, climate change is also depriving children of the opportunity to receive an education.

◀ Anchor ▶

It’s such a pity.

We delivered the Nepali version in September.

I am curious as to why the Climate and Environment team is focusing on the Asian region and what purpose remains.

◀ Reporter ▶

It started with the 2023 regional climate report published by the World Meteorological Organization last April.

It states that the Asian region will suffer the most damage in the world from climate-related disasters in 2023.

There is a German organization called Germanwatch, which evaluates climate risks in countries around the world, and seven of the top 10 places in the organization’s 2020 Global Climate Risk Index were also Asian countries.

As such, the damage from the climate crisis in Asia, where Korea belongs, is the most serious in the world.

We prepared this together with the international relief organization Save the Children out of a sense of crisis that if climate change continues like this, this could soon happen to us.

Last week, other fellow reporters returned from covering Mongolia.

Coverage from Vietnam is also scheduled in November.

◀ Anchor ▶

We ask our viewers to show a lot of interest as well.

Minwook Kim was a reporter specializing in the environment.

I heard you well.

MBC News awaits your reports 24 hours a day.

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