The solution to the threat

Of the many global warming problems that screams in our face, is the danger of the rise in the ocean level. Considering that a third of the world’s population inhabit areas within 50 km of the coasts this is frightening indeed. Just a modest rise in sea level could flood coastal areas leading to destruction of property, stark poverty, and eventually migration, leading to a logistical conundrum.

The regions of immediate concern are the Pacific islands. These low lying islands like Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and The Solomon Islands are under serious threat. So too are other tinier islands such as the Marshall Islands, Wake Island and the tiny Kiribati.

There is immediate threat of submerging into the sea for the beautiful island of Kiribati. Others in the Pacific Oceans like Cook Island, Hawaiian Islands and the island nation of New Zealand are under the threat of the rise in sea level. Imagine a tourist paradise like Hawaii under threat of submergence!

Nation islands that face the problem of a receding shoreline include Philippines and Indonesia. A number of these Pacific islands could “drown” at the end of this century if ‘greenhouse gas’ emissions are not dramatically reduced and drastic measures taken to combat the growjng peril of global warming.

The shorelines of Australia are in danger of being redrawn with the ocean swallowing up added landmass. Latin American countries such as Brazil are being affected too. Drastic climatic changes along the shores of Asian countries have already resulted in large scale destruction.

The tsunami that lambasted South East Asia, Srilanka and parts of India in 2004 are forbidding pointers to the future. Today these countries with vast shorelines are facing the wrath of nature.

The USA and Europe too are bound to suffer the fate as their shoreline continues to recede. Shores of California are a manifestation of these intimidating realities. The beauty of the Caribbean culture and society is threatened today by the swelling waters of the Pacific ocean.

This phenomenon is due to the global warming. The world’s oceans, which have been soaking up the majority of heat generated by the global warming, are now expanding rapidly. What’s more, the shrinking of Polar ice caps and mountain glaciers is also swelling the oceans.

A solution cannot be reached until the world takes a much more concentrated and visionnary approach to the consequences of global warming and its causes. The developed countries need to appreciate that the contribution to global warming has been largely from them.

The developing countries should also demonstrate flexibility in solving global warming. Without sorting out the issues, we cannot arrest the swelling waters of the ocean.

In the long term we also have to look at moving a good proportion of the population to areas that have not been inhabited yet. For overpopulation is the best “manure” for environmental degradation.

Photo from NOAA Research

More information: www.oar.noaa.gov/oceans