Saturday, April 3, 2010

New Moore Island sinking into the sea

When it might be getting the media coverage, short term loan to live on drier shores, but the issue is not improving. The dispute over New Moore Island is bringing media attention to the rising sea claiming more land then every before.

New Moore Island by any other name

At less than 3 square miles, New Moore Island is a relatively small chunk of disputed land. The government of India claimed the island as part of their territory, stating that New Moore Island fell within recognized maritime borders. The state of Bangledesh calls the island South Talpatti and also claims it. Residents of either country have never built a permanent settlement on the island. The island actually came under dispute only about 40 years ago, when New Moore Island / South Talpatti appeared after the Bhola cyclone. At one point, India established a temporary base on South Talpatti / New Moore Island, but international opinion remains split.

Rising sea levels engulf New Moore Island

The School of Oceanographic Studies in Calcutta reported to the BBC recently that New Moore Island had been completely engulfed by rising sea waters. The institute has confirmed that New Moore Island is no more with satellite pictures and reports from fishermen. In the last 10 years, sea level has risen an average of five millimeters per year, when the previous average was three millimeters per year. Sea level has been increasing much more quickly around the Sundarban Island Chain, where New Moore Island Was – 3.14 centimeters a year. In the last fifteen years, four other Sundarban chain islands have disappeared to the ocean.
Other island nations at risk
New Moore Island and the Sundarban Island chains are not the only islands at risk of sinking to the ocean. A small nation known as the Maldives in the Indian Ocean has been losing land mass steadily for years. The highest point in the Maldives is only 8 feet above ocean level, so even a high tide can create problems for residents. The Maldives government has been building Hulhumale, a fabricated island nearby, for residents to evacuate to if needs be. Tuvalu, a Pacific Ocean island between Hawaii and Australia, is also quickly losing land mass. Experts estimate that Tuvalu’s 11,000 citizens may have no home in as little as 50 years. 75 residents of Tuvalu can use military personal loans to move to New Zealand each year, but that is far from all of them. Like New Moore Island, Tonga, Kirbati, and the Marshall Islands are all at risk of sinking to the sea.

How to curb the sinking?
In the end, there is no way to precisely measure the cause and effect of small islands ending up in the ocean. Sea levels rise and fall regularly, and island land masses can also rise and sink on their own. Some say the sea levels are rising because of climate change, others because of normal climate variations. There is no way to really stop an island from sinking into the ocean, though, so islands like New Moore Island are being forced to discover solutions.



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