Published February 28th, 2009 by Future Atlas
Eight Disappearing Islands?
The website Treehugger suggests eight places — low-lying islands, more specifically — that will “soon” be uninhabitable due to climate change.
They are:
- the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean
- Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Carteret Islands (off PNG), and Majuro Atoll (Marshall Islands) in the Pacific
- Lamu and Pate, Kenyan coastal islands
- Bhola, in southern Bangladesh
- Key West, off southern Florida
“Soon” is a relative term here–many of these places would still be inhabitable for decades, under current sea-level rise forecasts.
The Pacific islands involve relatively small numbers of people; they could actually be moved, though this would involve irreparable cultural destruction.
Bangladesh illustrates another level of impact: millions of people live on these low-lying islands, and tens of millions in vulnerable coastal areas. Significant sea-level rise could dislocate so many people that the stability of countries like Bangladesh, and their neighbors, could be undermined.
(Thanks to Stu Gagnon for the tip.)
Image: Maldives from space, courtesy NASA