Posted on 02/14/2005 10:00:50 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Islanders on tiny Tuvalu in the South Pacific last week saw the future of global warming and rising sea levels, as extreme high tides caused waves to crash over crumbling sea-walls and flood their homes.
"Our island is sinking together with our hearts," wrote Silafaga Lalua in Tuvalu News (www.tuvaluislands.com).
Tuvalu is a remote island nation consisting of a fringe of atolls covering just 10 sq miles, with the highest point no more than 17 ft above sea level, but most a mere 6.5 ft.
Global warming (news - web sites) from greenhouse gas pollution is regarded as the main reason for higher sea levels, now rising about 2mm (0.08 in) a year, which could swamp low-lying nations such as Tuvalu and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean if temperatures keep rising.
On Feb. 16, a landmark U.N. pact to curb global warming comes into force. Under the Kyoto Protocol (news - web sites), developed countries are meant to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, largely from burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil in power plants, factories and cars, by an average 5.2 percent below 1990 levels during 2008-12.
But the world's biggest greenhouse polluter, the United States, has refused to join Kyoto, while some Kyoto signatories such as Spain and Portugal have increased greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent over 1990 levels.
Last Tuesday evening, Tuvaluans in the capital Funafuti watched extreme high tides and strong winds send waves crashing across the island's main road, littering it with rocks and debris.
"It's that time of year again when my tiny island nation gets hit once again by strong winds and high tides," said Lalua.
"The sea-walls that were constructed to be barriers from the wrath of the waves and the sea stood no chance against the damages of the sea over the years, and now they are only tatters of wire among debris along the shores," said Lalua.
CALL FOR HELP
As children rode the waves on makeshift surfboards, trailing behind cars and vans dashing for higher ground, their parents watched helplessly as their homes were flooded.
"Homes located on the narrower parts of the island experience flooding every time the tides are high," said Lalua.
"I for one do not want my island wiped out from the face of the earth, and I call for help, from those in power who can do something to change our island's situation," she said.
"Your help and consideration will be treasured by every Tuvaluan around the globe." In an address to the U.N. General Assembly in October 2004, the Tuvalu government pleaded with the world to save the island nation from climate change.
Tuvalu said it understood that for many countries, particularly developed nations such as the United States, national security was now a priority and the island nation supported the war on terror.
Tuvalu representative Enele Sopoaga told the General Assembly that national security was also a priority for Tuvalu, but the threat it faced was not from terror groups or weapons of mass destruction but climate change.
"For Tuvalu and many small-island developing states security should be seen in its multi-dimensional nature. Our national security is threatened by environmental degradation emanating from outside the country," Sopoaga said.
"The impact of climate change has the potential to threaten the survival of our entire nation," he said.
Seas rose by 10-20 cm in the 20th century, according to U.N. scientists. Thermal expansion -- water expands as it warms -- would be the main cause of rising seas along with melting glaciers.
But the biggest threat is if huge ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica melt. If that happened Tuvalu would be well under water and the coastlines of the world swamped.
SMALL RISE, BIG TROUBLE
Some environmental experts say recent evidence of a faster-than-expected melting of Greenland and Antarctic ice indicates that the rise in sea levels would be in the upper half of a 9-88 cm range projected by the U.N.'s climate panel by 2100.
"The Kyoto Protocol is not going to fix the problem in terms of rising sea levels," said Adam Delaney, Kyoto spokesman for the Pacific Islands Forum, which represents 16 island states.
Small island states had originally sought a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gases, but accepted the 5.2 percent agreed at Kyoto as a start.
But some scientists say an emissions cut of at least 60 percent is needed to prevent catastrophic impacts of climate change this century, including more intense cyclones in the Pacific.
Today, while small island states welcome Kyoto finally coming into force, they say more needs to be done for their survival.
The world's biggest polluters the United States, India, China and Brazil must commit to large-scale greenhouse emission cuts, Delaney said. Even a slight rise in sea level threatens their existence. Freshwater supplies, essential to inhabit tiny islands, lie only just below the surface and can easily be contaminated by rising ground salt water or storm surges.
Gee, this couldn't have anything to do with their continental plate moving and maybe sinking and pushing the mountain that is their islands down with it?
Puhleese--spare me. These atols were pushed up above sealevel, and at some time they could well be overtaken again--this could even have happened 100,000 years ago. Geological time marches on, and our puny greenhouse effects are about like the proverbial gnat crawling up the elephant's anatomy with carnal knowledge on it's mind.
vaudine
Liberal idiots posing as scientists will never stop defrauding people till they're kicked out of their profession.
I personally am blaming Bush, Cheney and Halliburton (aka Global Warming, Inc.) for the breakup of my beloved supercontinent, Pangea.
It's all Bush's fault.
"Stop Plate Tectonics!"
The idiot Reuters reporter doesn't seem to know that sinking land and rising water levels are two different things.
I think they'll do okay............
In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million
www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tv.html
Tuvalu Population: 10,838 (July 2000 est.)
Tuvalu Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Cost to global economies of "preventing" global warming (e.g., reducing global average temperature in 2100 by 0.5 degree): $10 Trillion?
Cost per Tuvalu citizen: $100 Billion
Methinks it would be cheaper to pay each Tuvaluvian a mere $1 Billion and let them each buy their own Malibu beach house and Hummer H1.
lol.. any semblance of an agenda in content delivered is purely coincidental. ;-)
It's a slow night. Which is fine too.
Tiny Tuvalu cashes in on '.tv' domainsBy Gaëlle Vacher ZDNet News April 10, 2000, 5:00 PM PT
Tuvalu, a tiny South Pacific nation measuring 26 square kilometers, has sold the use of its domain name -- .tv -- to Idealab! in a deal that promises to garner Tuvalu more than three times its national budget.
Under the terms of the agreement, the archipelago will receive $50 million over the next dozen years; the contract will be renegotiated in 2012.
The Tuvalu islands have already garnered $15 million dollars from the deal, enough to transform the existence of a country where the annual budget tops out at $14 million per year.
The per-capita revenue of the 10,600 residents is on its way to becoming one of the highest on the planet, up from an average of $400.
In 1998, Tuvalu closed a deal with Canada's TV Corp., but that agreement fell through. The current deal is with Idealab!, a startup incubator based in Pasadena, Calif. One of its portfolio companies, dubbed DotTV, will auction off URLs ending in ".tv."
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-519841.html?legacy=zdnn
Bush is sinking Atlanta???
OH MY GOD!!!! WERE ALL GOING TO DIE AND ITS ALL BUSH'S FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!
Kyoto won't save them. However it DOES sound like a great spot for the new UN building
Please. Talk about where to beign finding problems with a story. sheesh
"It's that time of year again when my tiny island nation gets hit once again by strong winds and high tides," said Lalua.
Yep. SEND US MORE MONEY, that will stop the strong winds and high tides that we have EVERY YEAR!
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