Extreme temperature and rainfall events in Bangladesh: A comparison between coastal and inland areas

Abstract

Although coastal and inland areas of Bangladesh exhibit distinct physiographic and climatic characteristics, spatiotemporal variation of extreme climatic events is poorly understood in these two areas. This study was an attempt to understand the trends in extreme climatic events in coastal and inland areas over the period 1968–2018. The missing data in daily maximum and minimum temperature, and daily rainfall datasets were imputed using the multiple imputation by chained equations technique and implementing a predictive mean matching algorithm. The imputed datasets were then tested for inhomogeneity using the penalized maximal t and modified penalized maximal F tests. A quantile matching algorithm was then applied to homogenize the datasets, which were then used for generating 13 extreme temperature and 9 extreme rainfall indices. The trends were assessed using the Trend Free Pre‐whitened Mann–Kendall test and the magnitudes of the changes were determined using the Thiel–Sen slope estimator. Additionally, standardized anomalies were calculated to understand the seasonal variability of temperature and rainfall over the past five decades. Results suggested that both coastal and inland areas were warming significantly but coastal areas exhibited a higher rate of warming. Although most of the extreme rainfall indices showed statistically non‐significant changes for coastal and inland stations, there is evidence of localized dryness and increased rainfall at individual stations. In particular, the drought‐prone northwestern region of the country experienced decreased rainfall, which is discordant to the results of previous studies. Findings from this study highlighted important local and regional‐scale changes in extreme climate events that were previously overlooked. The findings of this study can help undertake targeted climate change adaptation strategies to save population and resources.

Climate change projection using statistical downscaling model over Chittagong Division, Bangladesh

“…ca/ en/ servi ces/ envir onment, for the periods of 1961-2001 and 1961-2099, respectively. The NCEP (2.5° × 2.5°) data were interpolated to the grid resolution of the GCMs to eliminate spatial discrepancy following Abbasnia et al (2016).…”

Projected Changes in Climate Extremes Using CMIP6 Simulations Over SREX Regions

“…These extreme events often result in destruction of infrastructure, loss of human lives and livestock as well as damage to natural ecosystems, coastal and land areas (Singh et al 2021;Batibeniz et al 2020;Chen et al 2020). The reliable projections and predictions of extreme events are of great importance for implementing adaptation and mitigation strategies (e.g., Bourdeau-Goulet and Hassanzadeh 2021; Abdullah et al 2020;Ehsan et al 2019;Travis 2014;Nõges et al 2010;Abid et al 2018), in order to avoid human casualties as well as infrastructure and economic losses of billions of dollars (Smith and Matthews 2015).…”

Recent Climatology (1991–2020) and Trends in Local Warm and Cold Season Extreme Temperature Days and Nights in Arabia

“…Daily maximum (TX) and minimum (TN) temperatures were calculated for days with eight (every 3 h) or more (e.g., every 2 h) observations. Stations with less than 20% flagged (missing) data from the study period (1991–2020) were used (e.g., [ 33 , 34 ]). These two QC steps resulted in the selection of 38 out of 70 stations ( Figure 1 ).…”