It's all so confusing: *Lack* of flooding in Bangladesh this year--as it turns out, this is a *bad* thing, and CO2 is blamed!

AFP: Bangladesh monsoon rains 'lowest since 1994'

"This year, a drought-like situation persisted due to lack of flooding and rainfall. Farmers were forced to extract groundwater for irrigation," said Salim Bhuiyan, director of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Center.

Normally up to 25 percent of Bangladesh's land mass is flooded every year largely due to monsoon rains, but this year only 16.5 percent land was submerged, he said.

"In one sense we were lucky to escape floods which sometimes devastate our economy. But the lack of flooding means the land didn't get sediments, which is good for soil and helps farmers to grow crops easily," he said.

"This unpredictable, changing weather is all due to the growing effects of climate change on Bangladesh," he said.