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Warm
temperatures are found year-round throughout Bangladesh,
with not much change, although January seems to be the
coolest month (66° F/19° C) while May tends to be the
warmest (84° F/ 29° C). Bangladesh has a tropical
monsoon climate, with most of the rainfall for the year
occurring during the monsoon period. The average
precipitation ranges from as much as 200 inches
(5,080 mm) to as little as 55 inches (1,400 mm).
Monsoon
season lasts from May to October, with destructive
cyclones occurring from April to May and again from
September to November. The cyclones cause many
deaths and a lot of destruction, particularly with the
surging waves that come along with them. One of the
worst natural disasters of the 20th century was caused by
a cyclone that struck Bangladesh in November 1970.
In this storm about 500,000 people died, while in 1991,
over 120,000 people died when a cyclone struck the Ganges
delta.
Flora/Fauna
The
Bengal tiger is found in the Sundarbans, while the
Chittagong Hill Tracts are home to elephant herds and
leopards. Bangladesh is also home to other animals such as
the Bengal fox, jackal, vulture, swamp crocodile,
parakeet, mongoose and kingfisher. With 109
indigenous mammal species, 684 types of birds, 119
varieties of reptiles, 200 different kinds of marine and
freshwater fish as well as 19 different amphibians.
A common mammal is the rhesus monkey with other common
animals being lemurs and gibbons.
There
are very few forests left in Bangladesh, only about an
eighth of the country. Exceptions are the
Chittaogong Hill Tracts District (the hilliest portion of
Bangladesh), parts of the Madhupur Tract and the
Sundarbans. The Sundarbans is actually a mangrove
swamp found in the southwestern part of the country.
The hilly areas of Bangladesh have broadleaf evergreens,
while the plains areas have deciduous trees like acacia
and banyan. Commercially, there are several variety
of trees - sundari, sal, gewa, garayans and in the
villages there are fruit trees such as jackfruit and
mango. Also found are numerous varieties of bamboo
as well as areca (betel) and date palm trees. |
