Climate change displacement has begun – but hardly anyone has noticed

[Daft]

Climate change displacement has begun – but hardly anyone has noticed

The first evacuation of an entire community due to manmade global warming is happening on the Carteret Islands

 

Rising sea levels have eroded much of the coastlines of the low-lying Carteret Islands situated 50 miles from Bougainville Island, in the South Pacific.

 

Journalists – they're never around when you want one. Two weeks ago a momentous event occurred: the beginning of the world's first evacuation of an entire people as a result of manmade global warming. It has been marked so far by one blog post for the Ecologist and an article in the Solomon Times*. Where is everyone?

 

The Carteret Islands are off the coast of Bougainville, which, in turn, is off the coast of Papua New Guinea. They are small coral atolls on which 2,600 people live. Though not for much longer.

 

As the Ecologist's blogger Dan Box witnessed, the first five families have moved to Bougainville to prepare the ground for full evacuation. There are compounding factors – the removal of mangrove forests and some local volcanic activity – but the main problem appears to be rising sea levels. The highest point of the islands is 170cm above the sea. Over the past few years they have been repeatedly inundated by spring tides, wiping out the islanders' vegetable and fruit gardens, destroying their subsistence and making their lives impossible.

 

They are not, as the Daily Mail and the Times predicted, "the world's first climate-change refugees". People have been displaced from their homes by natural climate change for tens of thousands of years, and by manmade climate change for millennia (think of the desertification caused in North Africa by Roman grain production).

 

Some people ascribe the fighting in Darfur – and the consequent displacement of its people – to climate change, as people struggle over diminishing resources. But this appears to be the first time that an entire people have started leaving their homes as a result of current global warming.

 

Their numbers might be small, but this is the event that foreshadows the likely mass displacement of people from coastal cities and low-lying regions as a result of rising sea levels. The disaster has begun, but so far hardly anyone has noticed.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2009/may/07/monbiot-climate-change-evacuation

[RoadKill]

The evidence this is man made is where?

 

I think humanity has grown too arrogant

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

Nothing will really change until it starts really affecting shores where there is media in every corner like North America or Europe, until then I just don't see anything being done.

 

Upsetting, really.

[LazyBoy]

I bet the diving there is great.

[MoogleViper]

I bet the diving there is great.

 

Where the water will be only 1.7m deep maximum? I highly doubt that.

[Eenuh]

Hmm, something got posted on the belgian news website this week about this. Not this particular island, but the region it's in I think, with all the coral atolls. The intro says: "About 100 million people are about to loose their home and income if drastic measurements are not taken to protect the Coral Triangle, the coral reefs in Southeast Asia. These reefs are threatened to disappear near the end of this century due to global warming."

 

Also read a newspaper article today about a fisherman catching a tropical fish in the Northsea, a fish that normally lives closer to Malta. It's one you can't eat even, as eating it causes hallucinations. And yes, it migrating here is due to global warming as well.

[Dan_Dare]

I should buy some property here in Sheffield. Big hills. London can't last night?

[Jimbob]

Is it man made, or is it the media just making things worse than they are like they did with the Swine Flu.

[Goafer]

I'll be honest, I can only see the future going one of two ways:

 

 

or:

 

 

I can live with either. Although probably not for long.

 

 

 

And on a serious note: Didn't the massive deathbringing hole in the Ozone layer end up fixing itself?

[Razz]

Awww that's a tough choice. Leather, or being permanently drenched and thus having clothes cling to you in a kinky way? Ah well I guess either is fine.

[Shino]

Also read a newspaper article today about a fisherman catching a tropical fish in the Northsea, a fish that normally lives closer to Malta. It's one you can't eat even, as eating it causes hallucinations. And yes, it migrating here is due to global warming as well.

 

I'm sure the Dutch will put them to good use.

[darkjak]

I highly doubt that this is completely man made.

And the question is also, what are we supposed to do about it? No way that I'm gona live like a caveman, or even get rid of my car! In the west we are constantly thinking up increasingly more ecological technologies.

I believe that India and the PRC are to blame, as they take no regard at all to the environment (or human rights, copyrights, the free market or anything else for that matter) in their expansions.

[Goafer]

In the west we are constantly thinking up increasingly more ecological technologies.

 

Yeah, but most of these things are "good" for the environment when used, but surprisingly bad when being manufactured.

 

The Prius is a good example:

 

As already noted, the Prius is partly driven by a battery which contains nickel. The nickel is mined and smelted at a plant in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the ‘dead zone’ around the plant to test moon rovers. The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles.

 

The plant is the source of all the nickel found in a Prius’ battery and Toyota purchases 1,000 tons annually. Dubbed the Superstack, the plague-factory has spread sulfur dioxide across northern Ontario, becoming every environmentalist’s nightmare.

 

“The acid rain around Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the plants and the soil slid down off the hillside,” said Canadian Greenpeace energy-coordinator David Martin during an interview with Mail, a British-based newspaper.

 

All of this would be bad enough in and of itself; however, the journey to make a hybrid doesn’t end there. The nickel produced by this disastrous plant is shipped via massive container ship to the largest nickel refinery in Europe. From there, the nickel hops over to China to produce ‘nickel foam.’ From there, it goes to Japan. Finally, the completed batteries are shipped to the United States, finalizing the around-the-world trip required to produce a single Prius battery. Are these not sounding less and less like environmentally sound cars and more like a farce?

 

From Here. And that's just for the battery. Other parts are imported too IIRC.

Edited May 18, 2009 by Goafer

[MoogleViper]

I highly doubt that this is completely man made.

And the question is also, what are we supposed to do about it? No way that I'm gona live like a caveman, or even get rid of my car! In the west we are constantly thinking up increasingly more ecological technologies.

I believe that India and the PRC are to blame, as they take no regard at all to the environment (or human rights, copyrights, the free market or anything else for that matter) in their expansions.

 

That's complete and utter bollocks and I'm sick of people blaming China and India. They produce a fraction of the pollution per person than any of the western countries. America produces about twice as much CO2 emissions as China despite America's population being about 300 million whereas China's is 1.4 billion.

[darkjak]

Yeah, but most of these things are "good" for the environment when used, but surprisingly bad when being manufactured.

 

The Prius is a good example:

And that's just for the battery. Other parts are imported too IIRC.

I know about the Prius, but other things are a whole different matter. But look at the new inventive methods of heating buildings. Windows that don't leak heat, air inverters and more effeicient radiators.

Do you know how squeeky clean the JAS 39 Gripen is? Do you know that the air filter in a new Porsche is so sophisticated that the exhaust is actually cleaner than the air coming into the radiator? And then there are energy effeicient light bulbs that give the same illumination to about a fourth of a regular one.

We are doing a lot, and in a near future we'll be doing a lot more!

 

China might not yet be near the western pollution levels, but that's because of the quite different life standards. When China and India get close to our standards (say within the next 20 years), they will cause a LOT more pollution.

Edited May 18, 2009 by darkjak

[Noodleman]

And on a serious note: Didn't the massive deathbringing hole in the Ozone layer end up fixing itself?

 

There's still massive hole over New Zealand if that's the one you meant.

[MoogleViper]

China might not yet be near the western pollution levels, but that's because of the quite different life standards. When China and India get close to our standards (say within the next 20 years), they will cause a LOT more pollution.

 

But they aren't producing anywhere near the pollution levels. You can't persecute them for something that they haven't even done yet. If we develop more ecologically friendly energy then we could help them to develop so that they never produce the pollution that we do.

 

You can't persecute a country for something that;

A) They haven't even done.

B) We have already done.

C) We are still doing.

 

Just because they have a higher population does that mean they aren't allowed to develop?

[Jav_NE]

I highly doubt that this is completely man made.

And the question is also, what are we supposed to do about it? No way that I'm gona live like a caveman, or even get rid of my car! In the west we are constantly thinking up increasingly more ecological technologies.

I believe that India and the PRC are to blame, as they take no regard at all to the environment (or human rights, copyrights, the free market or anything else for that matter) in their expansions.

 

You sicken me. Unless you drive a long distance to work and have no alternative, giving up your car is the smallest of sacrifices you could make for the Earth. Jesus, this kind of attitude really pisses me off. And then you blame the East?! Your ignorance knows no bounds. And sadly, its people with your kind of attitude that will one day make our race extinct. Congratulations.

[Goafer]

I know about the Prius, but other things are a whole different matter. But look at the new inventive methods of heating buildings. Windows that don't leak heat, air inverters and more effeicient radiators.

Do you know how squeeky clean the JAS 39 Gripen is? Do you know that the air filter in a new Porsche is so sophisticated that the exhaust is actually cleaner than the air coming into the radiator? And then there are energy effeicient light bulbs that give the same illumination to about a fourth of a regular one.

We are doing a lot, and in a near future we'll be doing a lot more!

 

China might not yet be near the western pollution levels, but that's because of the quite different life standards. When China and India get close to our standards (say within the next 20 years), they will cause a LOT more pollution.

 

That makes no sense. No air goes into the radiator of a car at all, it's all water or coolant depending on the car. It's just for cooling and doesn't effect combustion/emmissions at all. The air goes into the engine through the air filter, but that can't effect emissions since the air filter is located before the combustion process. I assume you mean the exhaust sytem/catalytic converter? [/nerd]

 

But even then, I'll be willing to bet Porsche import a load of stuff from other countries unneccesarily, causing more emissions when the parts are shipped.

 

Taken from Here

 

But, the one thing these people have dead wrong is their stance on cars. Manufacturing a new car takes up a HUGE amount of carbon, and it only increases if the vehicle has to be transported from overseas. Also, these transport ships that cross the Pacific Ocean still use high Sulfur fuels. Also, hybrids and other vehicle technology like battery packs is not exactly the most environmentally friendly stuff to manufacture or recycle.

 

There is easier ways (both financially and "carbon footprint" wise) to reduce your impact with a car. Just keep the car you have, keep it well serviced, keep the tires properly inflated, remove all unneccasary weight and improve how you drive (no excessive acceleration/breaking, higher gears than usual etc)

Edited May 18, 2009 by Goafer

[Slaggis]

China have the highest CO2 output in the world, have done since 2007, but that's completely not the point. They haven't caused this problem, they're just a contributer. I hate when people constantly blame them for the whole global warming situation, when the entire reason it began was us westerners.

 

It's incredibly hypocritical blaming China for attempting to catch up with the western world by using the same methods we did to develop. We need to be focusing on America and it's output because the fact a developed country such as itself is producing close to the same amounts of C02 as China (a country still developing), is surely the problem?

 

Plus China have signed the Kyoto Protocol but America still haven't bothered to do so.

Edited May 18, 2009 by Slaggis

[MoogleViper]

China have the highest CO2 output in the world, have done since 2007, but that's completely not the point.

 

My mistake. Just checked and the data that I was using was from 2000. But my point still stand about per person.

[Goafer]

I think a big problem is that most people are lazy/cheapskates, myself included. People want cheap products and manufacturers want big profits, so companies have to manufacture their stuff wherever it can be done cheapest. Usually this is abroad somewhere, since it's cheaper to ship stuff over in bulk than it is to pay relatively local people a decent wage to make it.

 

And something I'm particularly guilty of, being lazy. Most people will take the car somewhere becuase they can't be arsed to walk or use public transport. The train/bus is going whether you're on it or not, so using it will remove the "carbon footprint" or your car, but not increase anywhere else. Personally, I'm going to try and bike to town whenever I need to unless I absolutely need to take the car.

 

I think there are a lot of little changes people can make, but they either don't know about them or can't be bothered. Although I'm thinking a lot of people on here are probably too young to make some of the changes themselves.

[Happenstance]

I think a big problem is that most people are lazy/cheapskates, myself included. People want cheap products and manufacturers want big profits, so companies have to manufacture their stuff wherever it can be done cheapest. Usually this is abroad somewhere, since it's cheaper to ship stuff over in bulk than it is to pay relatively local people a decent wage to make it.

 

And something I'm particularly guilty of, being lazy. Most people will take the car somewhere becuase they can't be arsed to walk or use public transport. The train/bus is going whether you're on it or not, so using it will remove the "carbon footprint" or your car, but not increase anywhere else. Personally, I'm going to try and bike to town whenever I need to unless I absolutely need to take the car.

 

I think there are a lot of little changes people can make, but they either don't know about them or can't be bothered. Although I'm thinking a lot of people on here are probably too young to make some of the changes themselves.

 

So does this mean the next time we go to Oxford you'll be taking the train with me?

[Goafer]

Hell, I might take my bike. I looked it up today, it's only 23 miles. Might get the train home though.

[Happenstance]

Hell, I might take my bike. I looked it up today, it's only 23 miles. Might get the train home though.

 

We'll have to sort that out soon, been quite a while since we last went. Although id rather not find out that I got to Oxford and you were flattened by a lorry.....that would be awkward