But for all the talk about how vulnerable the country is, the river laden land has evolved to create mechanisms that naturally counter sea level rise. Over the last several thousand years there has been natural sea level rise, which is not as severe as the human sea level rise." "But with the natural sea level rise the land has risen at the same rate as the sea level rise, because there is a natural balance between the sea level rise and the sediment that comes with the rivers and deposit on the land,” he said. And if the sea level rise does not exceed a certain level the land will simply rise at the same rate as the sea. “But if the sea level rise become too rapid or something stops the sediments coming in the river, either of those would mean sea level rise would become much more severe,” said Gilligan.

Source: Dhaka Tribune February 19, 2019 11:37 UTC