Scientists and researchers at a dialogue in Rajshahi on Monday categorically stated that the industrial and richer nations are responsible for the climate change and they should take effective decisions right now to face the adverse impact of climate change and other environmental degradations.

They viewed that the climate change has now caused a major concern to agriculture, environment, ecology, bio-diversity, climatic patterns and even existence of the habitation and civilisation throughout the globe.

Because of its adverse impacts, they said, untimely and devastating floods, droughts, tornadoes, cyclones, massive river and coastal erosions, pest attacks in the crop fields and many other natural calamities have been causing huge damage to Bangladesh too.

They were addressing the dialogue styled 'Conservation and management of natural resources under the challenges of a changing climate in Bangladesh' jointly organised by the Department of Zoology, University of Rajshahi (RU) and the School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Bangor, United Kingdom at RU Senate Building.

British Council under its 'UK-Bangladesh Higher Education Links Program' extended financial support to arrange the dialogue.

RU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr

Abdus Sobhan and Pro-VC Prof Dr M Nurullah addressed the opening ceremony as the chief and special guest respectively with the department chairman Prof Dr Sawdagor Mahfuzur Rahman in the chair.

Additional Commissioner of Rajshahi Division Syed Ali Nasim Khaliluzzaman. Head of Culture, Climate and Citizenship of British Council Bangladesh Syed Masud Hossain and Dean of Life and Earth Science Faculty of RU Prof Dr Golam Kabir also addressed the session as the guests of honor.

Speakers unequivocally viewed that the climate change will increase temperature, decrease availability of fresh water, scale up the sea level, trigger glacial melting in the Himalayas, frequency and intensity of natural calamities, and compel shifting of cropping zones in the country affecting agriculture and food sector.

They added that the coastal belt including the Sundarbans. the world's largest natural mangrove forest, would be severely affected and thus this region would face intense natural disasters in the form of floods, cyclones, storm surges and drought.

They suggested developing innovative mechanisms to scale up technical and financial support for the adaptation efforts of Bangladesh and strengthening institutional and policy mechanisms to promote and facilitate implementation of location-specific adaptation and mitigation practices.