National Geographic - UK (2022-04)

Ja

m

u

na

Brah

maputra

Yar

lung

(^) Zan
(Bra gbo
hmap
utra)
Ti
sta
H
oo
gh
ly
Da
mo
da
r
Ko
si
Sun
(^) K
os
i
Aru
n
G
an
da
k
Son
Gh
ag
ha
ra
Rapt
i
Ga
nga
(^) (Ga
nges)
Pa
dm
a
Punp
un
Meghna R.
Go
ma
ti
Bu
rh
i (^) G
an
dak Bhagalpur
Chhapra
Thimphu
Kathmandu
Howrah
Faizabad
Kolkata
Dhaka
Khulna
Gor
akhp
ur
BANGLADESH
BHUTAN
NEPAL
CHINA
FarFarFarFarFarFarFarFarFaFaFarFarFarFarFarFarFarFaFarFFarFarFarFarFarFarFFFarFararararararrrakkakkakkakkaakkakaakkakkakkakkakkakkakakkakkakkakkakakkakkakkakakkakkakkakakkakakkakkkkkkkkkkkkkkka Ba BaBa Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Baa Ba Baaa BaBaBa Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba BaBaa Ba Ba BaBBBarrarrararrarrarrarrarraaaarrarrarrarrarrarrarrarrarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrageageageageageageageageagageageageageageageageageageageageageageageagegeggegggeggegeggggggee
BASIN
GAN
GES
BAS
IN
H I M A L A Y A
P
L
A
I
N
Bay of Bengal
GANG
ES
BA
SI
N
Sagar I.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
SAHIBGANJ
RAJBARI
CHANDPUR
BHOLA
VARANASI PATNA
Microplastic density
at sampling sites
Particles per liter
0.125
Pre-monsoon
(May-June)
Post-monsoon
(Oct.-Dec.)
0.075
0.025
Litter density
per 1,000 people
in items per
square meter
Areas with
more than
10,000 people
Between
2,000 and
10,000
Less than
2,000
In water and on land
Surveys were taken before and
after the monsoon season, which
washes waterborne plastic toward
the sea. One team examined
microplastic density in the Ganges;
another studied locations on land.
Low population areas often had
more plastic waste per capita than
densely populated ones, mostly
due to poor waste management
in rural areas.
Monsoon flood
During the summer, winds
from the Indian Ocean flow
up the Himalaya and shed
their moisture. The result:
monsoon rains that deluge
the Ganges Basin.
A tangled delta
The world’s largest river delta
is formed by the intertwining of
the Ganges and Brahmaputra
Rivers in Bangladesh, where they
empty their plastic-laden water
into the Bay of Bengal. The Farakka
Barrage, a gated dam completed
in the 1970s, diverts some of this
water to the Hooghly River.