One of the most significant crises mankind faces today, climate change, has been escalating for decades due to growing industrialization. Many countries, including America, heavily rely on the burning of fossil fuels to fuel this industrial development, which releases heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere and contributes to major global warming. This warming of the earth escalates sea level rise through thermal expansion, glacier and polar ice cap melting, and ice sheet loss from Greenland and West Antarctica. In turn, rising sea levels induce frequent flooding, land submersion, disappearing habitats, more intense storms, and saltwater contamination of fresh water supplies, among others. If these warming trends continue, nations across the world will be devastated as millions will be displaced and massive economic damage will arise.

As one of the most densely populated countries in the world, Bangladesh is predicted to be hit the hardest by rising sea levels. The country is located just above sea level, and flooding from both the sea and rivers threaten its land and people.

Scientists expect rising sea levels to submerge 17% of Bangladesh’s land and displace 18 million people in the next 40 years.

According to John Pethick, a former professor of coastal science at Newcastle University of England, high tides in Bangladesh have been rising 10 times faster than the global average, and sea levels there could rise as much as 13 feet during this century. While almost 1/4 of Bangladesh is less than 7 feet above sea level, this would be disastrous for the country.

It is necessary for the United Nations to establish a global fund to improve healthcare, education, infrastructure rehabilitation, and subsistence growth for the people of Bangladesh to help mitigate the damage that wealthy countries like the U.S. are largely responsible for, while simultaneously cutting our emissions. It is unfair and irrational to ignore the consequences of our development while Bangladeshi culture, identity, and power is threatened by the great loss of land and, therefore livelihood, from rising sea levels.