Late last week, I came upon an AP article about how an island that India and Bangladesh have been fighting over has disappeared.
New Moore Island in the Sunderbans has been completely submerged, said oceanographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Its disappearance has been confirmed by satellite imagery and sea patrols, he said.
“What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming,” said Hazra.
This story is a perfect combination of politics, geography, and climate change. In the years to come, we’ll be dealing with more issues like this. Humans just love the coast and, just as in past times, some of our coastal property will become less than pleasant.
Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 150 million people, is one of the countries worst-affected by global warming. Officials estimate 18 percent of Bangladesh’s coastal area will be underwater and 20 million people will be displaced if sea levels rise 1 meter (3.3 feet) by 2050 as projected by some climate models.
