Do you think Bangladesh can handle its growing population in the future?
Posted by Worried-Classroom-18@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 48 comments
Posted by Worried-Classroom-18@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 48 comments
NyriasNeo@reddit
"Do you think Bangladesh can handle its growing population in the future?"
By not handling it. It is not like you can very effectively control the size of a population. The only example is the China one-child policy. And what happened? Male-female imbalance. And you cannot do it unless you have a iron-clad dictatorship.
In this case, it will grow until it hits the carrying capacity and some, and then you have no choice but to stop.
whoisfourthwall@reddit
I honestly wonder if any democracy would survive once the climate situation gets far far worse than it is now.
Realfinney@reddit
Carrying capacity is not a fixed number. It will rise when food & energy prices are cheap, and fresh water is plentiful, and it will drop when those resources become unavailable. At that point international programs step in...until they don't.
That is, after all, what Collapse is all about - the supports disappear and the people pay the price, either dying in place or moving on to the next domino.
Worried-Classroom-18@reddit (OP)
This might be a realistic scenario, when there aren't enough jobs, housing, food, water to feed people, the situation will become ugly real quick and many deaths might occur from starvation, climate change impacts, or the general chaos that would ensue when they not only hit but surpass the carrying capacity. Furthermore I heard the pollution levels are hazardous, therefore there might even be increasing infertility and births with abnormalities from the reduced overall health which might bring down numbers before they surpass the carrying capacity.
Acaciaenthusiast@reddit
What studies are you using that suggest Bangladesh’s long-term “carrying capacity” may be somewhere between 180 to 200 million people?
The Studies Ive read, such as the Living Planet Report WWF, Extension Pt I Sheet C, Optimum Population Trust Andrew Ferguson
has Bangladesh's long-term “carrying capacity”
Acaciaenthusiast@reddit
What studies are you using that suggest Bangladesh’s long-term “carrying capacity” may be somewhere between 180 to 200 million people?
The Studies Ive read, such as the Living Planet Report WWF, Extension Pt I Sheet C, Optimum Population Trust Andrew Ferguson
has Bangladesh's long-term “carrying capacity”
Acaciaenthusiast@reddit
What studies are you using that suggest Bangladesh’s long-term “carrying capacity” may be somewhere between 180 to 200 million people?
The Studies Ive read, such as the Living Planet Report WWF, Extension Pt I Sheet C, Optimum Population Trust Andrew Ferguson
has Bangladesh's long-term “carrying capacity”
Acaciaenthusiast@reddit
What studies are you using that suggest Bangladesh’s long-term “carrying capacity” may be somewhere between 180 to 200 million people?
The Studies Ive read, such as the Living Planet Report WWF, Extension Pt I Sheet C, Optimum Population Trust Andrew Ferguson
has Bangladesh's long-term “carrying capacity”
Acaciaenthusiast@reddit
What studies are you using that suggest Bangladesh’s long-term “carrying capacity” may be somewhere between 180 to 200 million people?
The Studies Ive read, such as the Living Planet Report WWF, Extension Pt I Sheet C, Optimum Population Trust Andrew Ferguson
has Bangladesh's long-term “carrying capacity”
Acaciaenthusiast@reddit
What studies are you using that suggest Bangladesh’s long-term “carrying capacity” may be somewhere between 180 to 200 million people?
The Studies Ive read, such as the Living Planet Report WWF, Extension Pt I Sheet C, Optimum Population Trust Andrew Ferguson
has Bangladesh's long-term “carrying capacity”
Good_Stick_5636@reddit
How do people in Bangladesh view this issue? Is population growth and sustainability a concern in everyday discussions, or is it something that gets overlooked compared to more immediate problems?
Citizens of Bangladesh are already running away. See "Bangladesh net migration". Bangladesh actually as in 2024 has 4th most negative migration in world, right after Sudan.
Worried-Classroom-18@reddit (OP)
A population of 176 million, even after a lot of migration are some crazy numbers.
Good_Stick_5636@reddit
Yes. Actually a bit similar to pre-2018 Gaza. They just kept growing with smarter fraction of populace emigrating, but then (water) infrastructure broke and poor decisions cascaded. It took just 5-7 years from rapid growth to war and famine. The Bangladesh may fail with similar timescale imho. It has not hit the countdown timer yet, but may be close.
bigred1978@reddit
No, I don't.
I fully expect millions of them will be attempting and succeeding at leaving there and flooding first-world countries instead. Same as their Indian cousins.
Worried-Classroom-18@reddit (OP)
There's already so much backlash over migration, everyone's trying to reduce numbers, I highly doubt this would happen.
trivetsandcolanders@reddit
Here’s a map of elevation in Bangladesh. The densest part of the country is at least several meters above sea level, but the extremely low-lying area in the southwest is fairly populated too. I would expect a mass exodus from there into already-overcrowded cities like Dhaka by the end of the century.
Worried-Classroom-18@reddit (OP)
Given the information I'm getting from the other comments here and on the web, I doubt if Bangladesh would even exist by the end of the century. Reading some of these comments it feels like the country would just implode and is on a path of self initiated self destruction. xD
Sealedwolf@reddit
Between saltwater-intrusion, loss of agricultural land, the potential for lethal wet-bulb temperatures, and industrial pollution, I dare say that the population won't be growing much longer.
Worried-Classroom-18@reddit (OP)
I've heard there's an increase in babies born with abnormalities in Bangladesh, I reckon it's all the pollution causing this.
DeleteriousDiploid@reddit
I expect Bangladesh to be a major flash point. There's no chance they're supporting close to that level of population when they lose 40% of their land to the sea. The ultimate result will be a surge of migrants trying to leave the country hitting up against India's militarized border. They already have a shoot to kill policy and have killed thousands over the decades. With the increasing radicalisation against Muslims in India and the rise of Hindu fascism the stage is set for a massacre. I wouldn't even be surprised if there is a pre-emptive invasion and genocide before it gets to that point.
Repulsive_Text_4613@reddit
On average Bangladesh gains 20 sq km of land every year due to all the slit formation.
The pink areas are land that Bangladesh lost. And the light green areas are lands Bangladesh gained.
This is all within 30 years.
Particular_Driver_45@reddit
yeah but they can't actually do anything with that new land so overall they're definitely losing land
Repulsive_Text_4613@reddit
Have you seen how much of the new land is already populated?
Even Bhasan chor, the island that is housing a lot of Rohingya Refugees didn’t exist 3 decades ago.
Substantial_Impact69@reddit
So they’re putting people in a giant sandbar?
Repulsive_Text_4613@reddit
Nah, the island formed in 2006 and it's already green and is housing over 35k+ refugees.
DeleteriousDiploid@reddit
The silted areas will still be lost to the sea in time as they're going to be of a similar low lying elevation. I'd also assume the salinity will be too high to grow anything there in the meantime.
potorthegreat@reddit
The “new land” are essentially silt sandbars whereas the actual lost land is actual lost land.
espomar@reddit
No.
As predicted by many, Bangladesh will be one of the First Nation-states to collapse. It exists in a nexus of multiple problems, each one of which could be enough to bring a county to its knees: overpopulation, low-lying land prone to flooding, religious extremism mixed with ethnic tensions, in the zone for constant wet-bulb extreme heat events, and to top it all off it has corruption and weak institutions holding the country together amid an economic dumpster fire.
Sadly, millions of Bangladeshis will die - the die-off has already started - in one interrelated crisis after another until it is a failed state like Afghanistan or Haiti. Then it will explore how much fatter it can descend.
Bangladesh will not exist as a country, in anything more than name, before the end of the century. But probably more than half of the countries in existence today will join Bangladesh in a similar fate.
35120red@reddit
What future?
fitbootyqueenfan2017@reddit
would be surprised to see them last another 3-5 years same with India/Pakistan/Burma/Nepal. fresh water system failure incoming.
Hour-Stable2050@reddit
Yeah they’re going under water. In fact many coastal areas are already unlivable due to floods.
LordTuranian@reddit
Of course not. No place on Earth can just handle more and more people without science fiction Star Trek technology.
SidKafizz@reddit
That depends entirely on what you mean by 'handle.'
filmguy36@reddit
Sadly when the oceans rise, and they will, Bangladesh will be under water.
roblewk@reddit
Yes, Nature will answer this question. Sadly.
ballzdedfred@reddit
Where do they go when the wet bulbing begins?
TheBendit@reddit
Bangladesh has a birth rate of 2.16 per woman, which is at replacement level. Population grows less than 1% a year and it will level off under 250 million.
rustybeaumont@reddit
1% growth means you double in population in 70 years.
TheBendit@reddit
In this case, no it does not. It simply means that young people grow up. Women need to have more than 2.1 children for population to be able to grow indefinitely. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/fTznEIZRkLg
rustybeaumont@reddit
2.16 > 2.1 By your own analysis, it is in a state of growth, not contraction. My points are:
1% steady annual growth over 70 years equates to a 100% increase from the initial number. (This number factors in both births and deaths and shouldn’t be confused with fertility rates)
Bangladesh, in 2024, had a documented growth rate of 1.21%. The year before had a smaller growth rate of only .8-.9%. Overall, the percent is on a downward shift, but the descent is not a straight line
I pulled those numbers from their governments statistics, which currently predicts the population of Bangladesh to increase from 175 million to 210 million by 2050, an additional 35 million people over the next 25 years.
Do you find anything incorrect with those statements?
Now, there is a un prediction, that in several decades from now, the population will reach a peak, stabilize, and slowly descend. I, personally, am not particularly invested in any projection that goes that far into the future, but that is a claim being made by people paid to make such claims.
commesicetaithier@reddit
More like starvation level. The bigger population, the less individual's life is worth. But at least capitalists are happy!
Collapse_is_underway@reddit
No but it's an easy one, nowhere is really sustainable :]
VenusbyTuesdayTV@reddit
No, they are one of the most affected countries by climate change.
kingtacticool@reddit
Bangladesh sits at sea level. They will be one of the first populous countries to dissappear beneath the waves.
Their population will be everyone else's problem.
LORRNABBO@reddit
No, they send them to Europe.
hectorbrydan@reddit
South Asia is all going to get hit hard by climate change first, floods from pakistan to india and bangladesh, increasing heatwaves, and air pollution.
The climate is warmer because there is a line of mountains blocking the north, the warm humid westerlies hit the roof of the world on the east and north, Clouds back up behind them, and pollution has no where to go.
In contrast in the americas mountains are north to south, allowing northern winds to sweep south. But the west coast us has the same effect with pollution just stagnating, backed up by the mountains.
StatementBot@reddit
This post links to another subreddit. Users who are not already subscribed to that subreddit should not participate with comments and up/downvotes, or otherwise harass or interfere with their discussions (brigading)
This thread addresses overpopulation, a fraught but important issue that attracts disruption and rule violations. In light of this we have lower tolerance for the following offenses:
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The following submission statement was provided by /u/Worried-Classroom-18:
Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with limited land and resources. As global population nears 10 billion, the pressures of climate change, food and water scarcity, and rising sea levels could hit Bangladesh especially hard. This raises collapse-related concerns about how nations with such high density can cope with resource limits and whether global overpopulation will accelerate social and environmental breakdown.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1n4p2v6/do_you_think_bangladesh_can_handle_its_growing/nbmo1wr/
Worried-Classroom-18@reddit (OP)
Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with limited land and resources. As global population nears 10 billion, the pressures of climate change, food and water scarcity, and rising sea levels could hit Bangladesh especially hard. This raises collapse-related concerns about how nations with such high density can cope with resource limits and whether global overpopulation will accelerate social and environmental breakdown.