South Asia is a region that groups together countries located towards the lower half of Asia including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan. One common characteristic of countries under this region is that they share the trouble of sustaining a healthy environment as climate change, conflict and, immigration cause stress on economies and the overall community.
India and Bangladesh, two very popular countries known for their struggling environment, experienced similar rising tensions caused by new environmental obstacles, in addition to internal political and economic conflicts. India and Bangladesh are facing frequent heat waves, cyclones, floods, monsoons, and a decline in groundwater reserves as a result of the increase in temperature from climate change and this is forcing the displacement chunk of their population. This leads to high rates of migration from rural to urban areas since many rural areas are destroyed and do not have the resources to quickly rebuild homes. Although with migration patterns from Bangladesh to India, it can cause conflict to their economy and political system. This is due to prior experiences and differences between the countries' cultures. It is evident that if the climate change crisis in South Asia doesn’t get resolved, not only countries have to face detrimental effects towards their environment but also major sectors of the economy and social issues.
Significant differences between countries in South Asia, and countries such as America, is their level of development. More developed countries, including Japan and the U.S have the financial stability to find solutions to help resolve climate change. On the other hand the South Asia region is full of countries that emit the least amount of Greenhouse Gas emissions, but are more vulnerable to climate change. With that being said, one way to help resolve the problem is through climate change education. By educating individuals, it was found that they spread their knowledge to others peers, which ultimately ends up in local awareness of climate issues. This can be seen as an effective strategy to approach South Asia’s poor environment because communities will be more connected to make steps toward solving the problem. As well as making it clear that climate change is an important focus for their country and must be addressed.
References
Aryal JP, Sapkota TB, Khurana R, Khatri-Chhetri A, Rahut DB, Jat ML (2020) Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options in smallholder production systems. Env Dev Sustain 22(6):5045–5075
Bhattacharyya, Arpita, and Michael Wertz . “Climate Change, Migration, and Conflict in South Asia.” Centre for American Progress, 2012, www.americanprogress.org/article/climate-change-migration-and-conflict-in-south-asia/.
Mochizuki Y, Bryan A (2015) Climate change education in the context of education for sustainable development: rationale and principles. J Educ Sust Dev 9(1):4–26
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