The year 2025 has brought an unmistakable and alarming reminder to Bangladesh: climate change is no longer a distant threat to safeguard against in the future, but an immediate and harsh reality that is impacting millions of lives today. Unprecedented rainfall and catastrophic floods have swept across the country this year, exposing the grave vulnerabilities of Bangladesh’s agricultural economy, food security, public health systems, infrastructure, and ecosystems. The scale of devastation serves as a solemn wake-up call about the present dangers posed by a warming planet and the urgent need for adaptive action.
In the month of July 2025 alone, Bangladesh experienced rainfall that was roughly 23.5% above the historical average, as reported by the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD). This particularly intense rainy season was driven by three strong low-pressure systems forming over the Bay of Bengal between May and August, unleashing relentless and heavy downpours in the northern and northeastern regions such as Sylhet and Sunamganj, as well as along the southeastern coastal belt including Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar. The consequences were devastating: over 400,000 families were displaced, infrastructure was damaged, livestock swept away, and vast tracts of farmland submerged under floodwaters for weeks on end. The immediate toll was profound, with the loss of crops, homes, and livelihoods triggering a humanitarian crisis on a massive scale.
This catastrophic flooding was not an isolated incident but part of an escalating five-year trend of intense and irregular monsoon rainfall events linked with climate change. In 2021, floods damaged approximately 25,000 hectares of arable land, causing economic losses estimated at over 210 billion Bangladeshi Taka (around 2.1 billion US dollars). The following years saw increasingly severe incidents: 2022 witnessed sudden flooding that destroyed 45,000 hectares of rice fields, affecting close to 2 million people and devastating vital agricultural areas. By 2023, erratic monsoon rainfall patterns contributed to a 25% decline in rice production nationwide, igniting a sharp rise in domestic rice prices by up to 30%. The floods in 2024 were even more catastrophic, destroying over 1.1 million tons of rice—equivalent to an economic loss nearing 85 billion Taka (850 million USD). And in 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture reported an alarming 300,000 hectares of farmland underwater, with predictions by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) projecting a 20% shortfall in Aman rice production alone.
The persistent nature of these climate shocks has disrupted what was once a relatively stable agricultural calendar, leading to a perilous decline in food production. Rice, the staple diet of the vast majority of Bangladesh’s 170 million people, has borne the brunt of these losses. The combination of submerged fields, crop failures, and rising prices has severely undermined food security. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that approximately 1.5 million Bangladeshis were facing food insecurity as a direct consequence of 2025’s floods and rainfall anomalies. The spike in rice prices—between 12 and 15% since mid-year—is only the tip of the iceberg, as vegetables, lentils, and other essential staples have also witnessed price hikes of up to 20%. These increases disproportionately affect impoverished rural families, for whom food typically constitutes a majority share of daily income.
But the agricultural fallout goes beyond rice alone. Prolonged waterlogging from floodwaters has caused lasting damage to fish habitats in Bangladesh’s floodplain river systems and wetlands, drastically reducing aquatic biodiversity and fish production that many rural communities depend upon for both nutrition and income. Livestock farmers face shortage of grazing lands, and the quality of fodder has deteriorated due to water-submerged pastures. Vegetable cultivation—a critical source of vitamins and cash income—is suffering, as fertile vegetable plots remain waterlogged for weeks, making cultivation impossible. These cumulative impacts translate into serious rural impoverishment and food insecurity.
The adverse effects ripple beyond agriculture, revealing the broader societal vulnerabilities to extreme weather. In many flood-affected districts, schools have been shuttered for three weeks or more as floodwaters engulfed buildings and cut off transportation routes. Overcrowded emergency shelters and contaminated water supplies have triggered outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as diarrhea and hepatitis, which health authorities report increased by nearly 40%. Electrical generation from hydropower plants was hampered due to rising water levels, causing instability in the energy grid, while roads and railway lines suffered severe damage, impeding relief operations and market access in affected areas.
From an economic standpoint, these impacts carry staggering costs. According to initial estimates by the World Bank, the aggregate economic losses inflicted by the 2025 monsoon cycle and flooding could exceed 1.2 billion US dollars, severely straining a country already challenged by poverty and limited fiscal resources. The direct damages to infrastructure, agriculture, and health are compounded by indirect costs including lost productivity, disrupted markets, and long-term environmental degradation.
To understand why Bangladesh is facing such an intensification of extreme rainfall, it is important to contextualize it within the broader framework of global climate change. Scientific studies have demonstrated that with every one-degree Celsius rise in average global temperature, the atmosphere’s capacity to hold moisture increases by approximately 6 to 7%. Over the last five decades, the Bay of Bengal, a key player in Bangladesh’s weather system, has warmed by close to one degree Celsius. This warming accelerates evaporation of seawater, pumping greater volumes of moisture into the air. When low-pressure weather systems or monsoon winds move over the region, this heightened moisture load precipitates as heavier and more persistent rainfall on land, often well beyond the capacity of rivers and drainage systems to manage.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its Sixth Assessment Report explicitly warned that South Asia is likely to experience at least a 30% increase in intense precipitation and flood risks by 2050, attributable to rising global temperatures. Bangladesh’s geography makes it particularly vulnerable—nestled in the low-lying delta formed by the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers, with extensive floodplains and weak natural buffers. Rising sea surface temperatures, combined with upstream river flow and deforestation impacts, compound the risks of extraordinary and repeated flooding events.
While the agricultural and economic impacts receive most of the attention, the ecological consequences are equally severe and threaten long-term sustainability. Persistent flooding causes soil erosion, leaching of vital nutrients, and loss of organic matter that together reduce the fertility of once-prosperous lands. Riverbank erosion leads to permanent losses of farmland and residential areas, forcing displacement and migration. Wetlands, which provide crucial breeding grounds for fish and serve as buffers against floods, are under tremendous strain. The mixing of saline water with freshwater in coastal regions—a process accelerated by flooding and sea level rise—renders valuable agricultural lands unusable for crop production. According to reports by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), approximately 30% of Bangladesh’s wetland ecosystems have undergone major negative transformations in recent years, with irreversible losses threatening biodiversity and natural flood defenses.
The cumulative impacts pose a severe dilemma: as climate change drives more intense and erratic monsoons, the resilience of Bangladesh’s agriculture, health systems, infrastructure, and natural ecosystems is rapidly eroding. The 2025 floods and excessive rainfall are a clarion call revealing the heavy human and economic costs of inaction.
In response, climate adaptation must be prioritized and operationalized at an unprecedented scale and pace. Food security and rural livelihoods hinge on the government and development partners swiftly delivering emergency cash assistance, subsidized inputs like seeds and fertilizers, and technical support to farmers reeling from crop losses. Promoting and scaling flood-tolerant rice varieties—such as the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute’s “Scuba Rice,” which can survive extended submergence—offers a viable tool to minimize future crop failures. Yet, this requires efficient seed distribution networks and farmer training to realize widespread adoption.
Improving on-the-ground infrastructure is equally urgent. Excavation of local canals, construction of small earthen embankments, enhancement of drainage systems, and river dredging can help alleviate chronic waterlogging and mitigate flood impacts. Investment in rural road rehabilitation and flood-resilient bridges will secure critical market access and emergency transport routes during monsoon seasons.
Agricultural insurance mechanisms must be introduced, providing farmers with financial protection to cushion the shocks from unpredictable climatic events and encourage investment in resilient farming practices. Such insurance schemes can serve as vital social safety nets, particularly for smallholder farmers vulnerable to income loss.
International cooperation and financial support constitute another pillar of Bangladesh’s climate adaptation strategy. The United Nations’ Loss and Damage Fund, agreed upon in recent global climate negotiations, holds promise as a source of dedicated finance to address irreversible climate impacts. Bangladesh must assertively engage with this and other climate finance channels to mobilize resources for large-scale adaptation and infrastructure projects. Speedy disbursement and effective governance will be essential to translate funds into tangible benefits on the ground.
The lessons of 2025 are clear: climate change has shifted from a future risk to a present emergency in Bangladesh. The growing cycle of floods caused by extreme rainfall affects nearly every dimension of life—from farmers losing their crops, to school closures, health crises, ecosystem devastation, and economic instability. Without urgent, coordinated adaptation efforts at national and international levels, these risks will only deepen, threatening the country’s development trajectory and the well-being of its people.
Bangladesh’s success in navigating this climate reality will require embracing innovation, strengthening institutions, mobilizing communities, and securing external support. The experiences of recent years illustrate the country’s resilience and ingenuity, but also the limits of coping without comprehensive climate action. By accelerating adaptation and tapping into global solidarity, Bangladesh can chart a path toward a safer, more food-secure, and climate-resilient future, even as the global climate crisis intensifies.
In conclusion, 2025’s catastrophic rainfall and floods are not anomalies but symptoms of a changing climate pattern that demands immediate attention. Protecting livelihoods, ecosystems, and economic stability hinges on recognizing this reality and acting boldly to transform challenges into opportunities for sustainable development. The time to move decisively on climate adaptation in Bangladesh is now—lest future generations inherit a landscape overwhelmed by disaster rather than resilience.
# Asaduzzaman Shamrat, Senior Journalist and Climate Activist
