Social vulnerability, impacts and adaptations strategies in the face of natural hazards: insight from riverine islands of Bangladesh

This study aims to assess social vulnerability, impacts, and adaptation strategies to climate change in the riverine island areas of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one of the countries at risk of natural disasters due to climate change. In particular, inhabitants of its riverine islands (char) confront ongoing climatic events that heighten their vulnerability.

The findings show that char dwellers' vulnerability, impacts, and adaptation capability to climate change vary significantly depending on their proximity to the mainland. Social vulnerability factors such as geographical location, fragile and low-grade housing conditions, illiteracy and displacement, climate-sensitive occupation and low-income level, and so on caused to the in-height vulnerability level of these particular areas. This study also displays that climate change and its associated hazards cause severe life and livelihood concerns for almost all households. In this case, the riverine dwellers employed several adaptation strategies to enhance their way of life to the disaster brought on changing climate. However, low education facilities, deficiency of useful information on climate change, poor infrastructure, and shortage of money are still the supreme hindrance to the sustainability of adaptation.