Abstract:
The objective of the research is to investigate how refugees’ influx has altered the carbon dynamics of different land uses and the relationship between land use specific carbon emissions and land surface temperature (LST). Two upazilais of the Cox’s Bazar district, Bangladesh (i.e., Ukhiya and Teknaf), were mostly affected by the Rohingya refugee influx and are the focus of the study. The study classified the land use land cover (LULC) into four classes (e.g., agricultural, forest, settlement, and water) for two different time periods (i.e., before and after the influx of Rohingya refugees) using an artificial neural network algorithm and sentinel satellite imagery. Carbon emissions and absorptions specific to land use were calculated using classified land use land cover and coefficients. Again, two time series of Landsat 8 imagery were applied to estimate land surface temperature shifts. The area of forests was found to have decreased by 21.19 square miles (9.58 percent) and the area of settlements to have increased by 18.24 square miles (8.25 percent) between 2017 and 2021. There was a negative net land-use based carbon emission of -5187.02 tons per year in 2017. In 2021, it was predicted that annual net emissions would total 2208.24 tons. LST during the study period has increased as a result of human activities that release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The findings of this research will inform policymakers’ decisions about the conservation and sustainable development of natural resources in the region experiencing an influx of Rohingya refugees.
