What If the Sea Level Rises and These Destinations Disappear?

[TripButler]

Two years ago, news in regards to climate change and its effects in island groups threaten by the possible rising of the sea level, where all over the media. Nothing has changed, countries and their leaders don't quiet seem to become aware of the damage caused by environmental pollution, climate change, etc in areas that are at risk due to these factors. This is a reminder of another news where it was said that "Youngsters of today will be the first generation that will live worst than their parents". And is no wonder, due to the fact that those who can really do something to decide over these topics, don't take action, ignoring the future of thousands of people around the world.

Many of the small territories threaten to disappear submerged, if the sea level continues to rise due to climate change, organized in the Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS). Forty two small states from the Caribbean, Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Sea are part of a struggle to avoid more climate changes that threaten the welfare of their small islands.

Indian Sea: Maldives, Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles and Singapore.

Caribbean: Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Sao Tome and Principe, San Cristobal de las Nieves, Santa Lucia, Surinam, Trinidad y Tobago.

Pacific: Cook Islands, Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Marshall, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa; Solomon, Timor-Leste, Toga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

Atlantic: Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe.

The governments of these islands are the ones taking steps to prevent the effects of disasters, not only in the present, but also in the future, such as floods influenced by lunar cycles for example. The executive of Maldives, which since 2008 allocates revenues generated by tourism to buy land elsewhere to relocate its population, if necessary, if its territory disappears in the future. According to the UN, in 2100 70% of its territory will have disappeared as a result of melting icecaps and the rise of 59 centimeters of sea level.

Another case is that of Tuvalu with 11,ooo inhabitants. Their executive believes that the temperature should not exceed 1.5 degrees and that legally binding measures should be applied not only to developed countries, but also to the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China).

Unfortunately, the only danger is not that these islands could disappear, but that 10% of the world population lives in coastal areas of only 10 meters high. The main threats are:

• Sea level rise
• Increase in the number of storms and hurricanes causing a warmer environment
• Poor infrastructure developing countries
• Location of major urban centers like London New York and Shanghai (which dams up)

This wonderful text was translated from Tourismedia