Seasons of the country are shifting a bit arbitrarily as a result of changes in temperature, wind-flow and rainfall patterns, posing a serious threat to the future food security, according to experts, reports UNB.
Changes in the elements of the climate can lead to changes in the behaviour of plants and other life forms that will eventually lead to a disarray of the agricultural calendar that have long been followed by the farmers of the country, they observed.
Take, for example, the rainfall the country has experienced this year. Although lesser than normal precipitation has been observed during the peak time of monsoon in July, heavy downpour is taking place in many places of the country as late in August.
Over 30 per cent less precipitation was recorded in July this year against the expected rainfall, said Abdur Rahman, a meteorologist at Bangladesh Meteorological Department.
"We rely on rainwater for planting Aman paddy. But, this year, there was not that much rainfall during the planting period of July," said Fazlur Rahman, a farmer of Kuliarchar upazila in Kishoreganj.
Khalilur Rahman, a jute farmer of Shovna village in Dumuria upazila, Khulna, said they fell in trouble in rotting and processing the fibre this year as there was a lack of water in rivers and other water bodies due to scanty rainfall in July.
He said many of them have piled up harvested jute plants in their fields since there is lack of water to rot those.
Environmental expert Dr Atiq Rahman said farmers in the global south are facing difficulties with the cultivation of various crops according to the traditional agricultural calendar as they are experiencing late monsoon.
"Farmers are facing problem in rotting their jute plants for scanty of rainwater. Framers cannot plant their paddy in the traditional monsoon period due to lack of water. They obverse that something is not right," he said.
The experience at the ground level also demonstrates the statement of a report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013.
The IPCC at its 26th session at Stockholm on September 26 last year published the 'Summary for Policymakers', which is based on the first component of the IPCC AR5, titled 'Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis'. The report stated that prolongation of monsoon is taking place across the global south.
About winter, Dr Atiq noted that nowadays the winter is getting less biting, but with more fogs. "As the increased fog is affecting the crops adversely, the overall uncertainty in crop production is on the rise," he said.
Besides rice, jute and other widely cultivated crops, flowering periods of various other plants have been shifting in the country due to the changing climate. Sheuli, an autumnal flower, is now blooming in the summer in some places.
"I had planted a Sheuli tree in front of my house around eight years ago. It had been flowering every autumn since two years of the planting. But surprisingly, the tree gave a bloom in the last summer," Aleya Khatun, a schoolteacher living at Ulipur upazila sadar in Kurigram, told UNB.
Sheuli also bloomed in last summer on the premises of Biam auditorium in the capital.
If the temperature increases, Dr Atiq Rahman said, disorders will emerge in the seasons of the country and flowers will bloom in a wrong time affecting the food chain.
Identifying the flowering of Sheuli in April as an outcome of climate change, eminent climate expert Dr Ainun Nishat noted that Kadam is also blooming unusually in the Bangla month of Chaitra (mid-April) due to the changing climate. "And it is related to food security."
He said wind-flow and precipitation pattern always play a role in breeding of animals and plants. "Temperate rise and changes of wind-flow and rainfall patterns contribute to change the flora and fauna."
As the temperature is increasing and the wind flow and rainfall pattern are changing gradually, a change will come in the country's flora and furan, Dr Nishat said, adding that if flowers bloom in a wrong reason, it will also affect the ecosystem.
Referring to people's experiences about some other unusual climatic events, Dr Atiq Rahman said the high tide is becoming bigger during the full moon. "People claim that they have been observing such high tides which they saw in the past during the full moon. Once, there were many things in the 'verses' and people's experience, but now all the things have been mixed-up."
About the erratic rainfall, the environmental expert said it is learnt from the rainfall modeling that the amount of precipitation will remain similar like present in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) over the next 20-30 years.
"But, precipitation pattern will change. The region will see heavier rainfalls in a short duration of time. So, the incidents of landslide will increase, putting the lives of many at risk in the CHT," he added.
© 2026 - All Rights with The Financial Express
