How a Super El Niño could compound Bangladesh’s climate crisis

A normal El Niño raises sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific by about 0.5°C while a super El Niño surges 2°C or more above the long-term average. Photo: TBS Highlights:

Amal Kumar was speaking about how salinity has slowly entered his land in Satkhira. After 40 years of farming, the soil he knows so well is turning against him. He invested Tk1.2 lakh to plant Boro rice this season, but a quarter of the transplants have already withered into brown, lifeless stalks. He is now facing a ruined harvest that won't even cover half his bank loan for seeds and fertiliser.

Kajoli Begum, also from Satkhira, had her own struggle with climate change to recount, "Every year we rebuild, and every year the river returns. We don't know how long we can keep starting over."