Tuvalu Threatened by Rising Sea Water
As global warming melts land ice and causes ocean levels to rise, islands like Tuvalu are in danger of being inundated. The 10,000 people in the island nation are pleading with Australia to take them in when the waters rise further.
Internet devotees will remember Tuvalu as the nation licensed to give out the .tv domain name. Ironically, the domain name and an internet connection may be the only thing left of the country soon. Tuvalu may become the first virtual nation.
Kiribatu and the Maldives are in a similar plight.
If Tuvalu is a problem, what will the world do about Bangladesh,which could have 30 million climate refugees this century . . . That would be sort of like New York and Pennsylvania combined.
posted by Juan Cole @ 10/05/2008 12:08:00 AM
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5 Comments:
There are 100,000 people living in Tuvalu which is elevated about 1 meter above the sea.
There are 150,000,000 people living in Bangladesh.
Most parts of Bangladesh are less than 12 metres (39 ft) above the sea level, and it is believed that about 50% of the land would be flooded if the sea level were to rise by a metre (3 ft).
Half of 150,000,000 is 75,000,000 people, so that many people may well be affected.
And the surrounding coastal region is heavily populated as well.
If Greenland and Antarctica were each to shed a quarter of the ice covering them at present sea level would rise by 10 meters and most of Bangladesh, and most of Florida for that matter, would be under the sea.
Do you remember the "boat people" who fled Vietnam after our retreat, and their inhuman reception where they landed?
May the collapse of our economy force us to recenter our beings in the so-called "spiritual" plane, and give us the courage to act in accordance with what we used to say were our ideals of behavior rather than to continue in the fashion we have been acting lately, trying to protect our money at any and all costs.
Having lost our money may we regain our souls and our minds.
The solution to global warming is to have a genius, with direct links to God, in charge of the worldwide efforts.
Luckily, the man who turned the USA from a hated, economically cripplled, impotent country in 2000 into todays hyperpower which is both loved and feared by the rest of the world will soon be available.
His request for a National Day of Prayer were repeated shunne by his country. But a Global Day of Prayer, which I am sure will have the entire world participating in, will solve the problem instantly. None of your science mumbo jumbo please.
If we all beg him, he might agree to save the world this time, when his job is finished in January.
I have a problem with the recurrent announcement of xx million climate refugees often made in regard to climate change.
I don’t think people and nations living on higher ground (physical and/or economical) will help people living on threatened shores more than they help poor people dying of hunger, malaria or HIV at the moment (i.e. some efforts are made but most people are left to fend for themselves and the casualties are huge).
Let’s be honest with ourselves and talk about deaths.
Or is it that we want to scare people on higher ground, prompt them into action, and know perfectly well that announcing deaths will not do the trick (as we know from experience), while talking of refugees might do it?
All of us who believe that climate change is anthropomorphic (Sarah, that means man made - you betcha!) should move to Alaska.
Reminds of em of the phrase 'as the world burns'.
Corrupt 'leaders' running around waging wars and building space missiles while the world is sinking.
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