Bangladesh struggling with weather

As the world's attention turns to the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, people living in some of the world's most vulnerable and exposed areas -- such as Bangladesh -- continue to struggle with the everyday effects of unpredictable weather scientists say is brought about by global warming.

Six months after Cyclone Aila ravaged Bangladesh, people in the country's western Stkhira District are still living in makeshift camps, continually threatened by flooding every time the tide comes in.

Hundreds of residents from the the village of Padmapukur, which was completely destroyed by the cyclone, are among those displaced.

Abdul Bari, displaced person, said, "During Cyclone Aila, the tidal surge destroyed everything -- the house, the trees, and it even washed away all my cattle. All that is left is a strip of land, so we have had to live here on this embankment ever since."

With no end in sight to their miserable situation, the villagers are trying to establish some sense of normalcy.

Countries like Bangladesh have borne the brunt of severe and unpredictable weather, which scientists attribute to climate change and global warming.

An expert with the environmental organization Greenpeace International believes their voices should be at the heart of the UN summit.

Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International, said, "I believe they will be heard. But hearing and acting are two different things. Whether they will act with the urgency that is called for, that remains to be seen."

The Copenhagen summit that kicks off this week is the largest and most important of its kind ever held.