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Post by KNOWTHIS on Dec 26, 2006 1:56:20 GMT -5
Disappearing world: Global warming claims tropical island
For the first time, an inhabited island has disappeared beneath rising seas. Environment Editor Geoffrey Lean reports
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Post by Swamp Gas on Dec 26, 2006 2:11:14 GMT -5
I saw that, and you beat me to the post by minutes. Unbelievable!!! Global Warming is accelerating at an exponential rate, and soon Manhattan will disappear if it keeps up. www.itvs.org/risingwaters/islands.htmlAlthough global warming impacts the entire world, Pacific Islanders are suffering the consequences of climate change most immediately and dramatically. The main industries driving local island economies-fishing, agriculture and tourism-could be devastated by flooding, drought, violent storms, destroyed coral reefs, depleted fish populations, lack of fresh water and eroding coastlines. Here is a look at the threat that global warming poses to a range of islands at or near sea level, including Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Micronesia, and Manhattan. Marshall Islands The historic Marshall Islands are composed of 29 atolls just above sea level. During World War II, two of the islands were used to test 67 nuclear weapons while islanders were forced into exile. Later, atomic fallout and radiation poisoning forced many more to abandon their contaminated homes. During the last decade, the island of Majuro has lost up to 20 per cent of its beachfront. Locals believe that the powerful storms and sweeping high tides are causing most of the coastal erosion. Majuro has built up sea walls to prevent further erosion, even using garbage imported from the United States. Land is scarce, however, and the walls need constant rebuilding. According to government officials, building and maintaining effective sea walls will cost more than the Marshall Islands' annual budget. The Marshalese worry that history will repeat itself and that they will be forced to leave their homes once again. Samoa Four thousand miles southwest of California lie the volcanic islands of Samoa, home to a Polynesian culture thousands of years old. In the past decade, the El Nino phenomenon, which originates in the tropical Pacific, has raised water temperatures so high that most of the coral reef around the islands were killed. Coral reefs serve as a major source of coastal protection for low-lying atolls because they act as natural breakwaters to protect shorelines and beaches from erosion. Coral reefs also provide shelter for one quarter of all marine life, and are a source of food and income for islanders. The warmer waters can't sustain large fish populations, and some fishermen are now unable to make a living due to decreased catches. Kiribati Straddling the equator and the international dateline, Kirabati (pronounced Kee-ree-bas) is composed of 33 islands spread over 2 million square miles in the central Pacific Ocean. One of the smallest and most isolated nations in the world, the terrain is mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs. In recent years, Kribati islanders have reported unusually high tides, rogue waves, the loss of small islands, and storms more powerful than those of the past. Sea water continues to encroach onto the fresh water lens underneath the coral atoll, contaminating drinking water and destroying crops. Bikeman, Kiribati The small island of Bikeman, located near Tarawa, Kiribati, was once a landmark to guide fishermen home. Now, Bikeman is submerged underwater, probably due to the rise in sea level. Years ago, the island was called Tebuneuea, meaning "the place for chiefs," where people used to present their gifts to the gods. Today, people can only walk on the former island in knee-deep water. Manhattan Like the Pacific islands, Manhattan is slightly higher than ocean waters. In the next 50 to 100 years, areas of the city could be inundated by rising sea levels. Manhattan had a glimpse of such a scenario in 1992, when a powerful storm hit the area. Several underground train and subway stations were flooded and the entire transportation system of the New York metropolitan area was disrupted.
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Post by Swamp Gas on Dec 26, 2006 2:13:53 GMT -5
www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/12/tuvalu_that_sin_1.htmlTuvalu: That Sinking Feeling Global warming, rising seas BY Elizabeth Pollock December 06, 2005 Elizabeth Pollock is a graduate of the Berkeley journalism school whose awards include a Fulbright Scholarship and an environmental journalism fellowship from the Institute of Journalism and Natural Resources. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her husband Bob Bruch, who took a year off his job to come to the South Pacific and serve as Associate Producer and crew for Pollock's recent documentary about the effects of global warming on the tiny island country of Tuvalu. Who hasn’t dreamed of one day living on a far-off island in the South Pacific? Paul Gauguin and Marlon Brando famously found their bliss among the Polynesians. But there is trouble in paradise, especially if you live on an island nation as narrow and flat as Tuvalu, where the average elevation is a mere six feet above sea level. When you live that close to the water’s edge you pay very close attention to the ocean, especially if it begins to rise. And that is what’s happening around Tuvalu, slowly, almost imperceptibly, the sea is rising. The scientific consensus is that global warming caused by carbon dioxide emissions and other “greenhouse gases” is causing rising sea levels around the world. Climate change experts predict that over the next hundred years the sea level, on average, will rise between six inches and three feet. If so, Tuvalu is doomed, and many coastal areas around the world will be submerged. Which is why the 9,000 inhabitants of Tuvalu have become this century’s version of the canaries in the coal mines, and why FRONTLINE/World reporter Elizabeth Pollock ventured to these remote coral atolls south of the Equator. Is Tuvalu drowning? On a Fulbright scholarship, Pollock spent a year in the South Pacific, making a documentary with her husband about the effects of global warming. This week’s “Rough Cut” -- “That Sinking Feeling” -- is an early version of what will be a one-hour film called “Atlantis Approaching.” We catch up with Pollock as she sets sail from Fiji on a three-day cargo ship ride to Tuvalu, and from the moment she arrives on Funafuti, Tuvalu’s main island, she immerses us in a tropical world few of us will ever visit. It’s a demanding Eden. “If you strong, you get fish,” a weathered fisherman tells her. “If you not strong, oh, you gonna die.” In many ways, though, Tuvalu is a languid, sensual world where a fisherman has time to bathe his children, sip his coconut juice, feed his pet sea turtles, and tend his ancestors’ graves. But Pollock soon discovers unmistakable signs of danger. A tide gauge set up by Australia’s National Tidal Facility indicates that sea levels have been rising slightly but steadily over the past 10 years, and a local meteorologist shows Pollock that during high tides, sea water actually bubbles up on land through the porous coral. Encroaching salty ocean water is ruining pulaka gardens, the main crop, and eroding coconut trees. People have lived in Tuvalu for 2,000 years, but some are now beginning to leave, fearing that global warming and rising seas will render their homes uninhabitable. As they emigrate to New Zealand, the Tuvaluans may be the vanguard of a new and growing category of displaced people: “ocean exiles” or “environmental refugees.” “I feel angry because we are being forced to move, to relocate, by something that has nothing to do with us, by factors that are beyond our control,” says Paani Laupepa, Tuvalu’s assistant secretary of foreign affairs. We present “That Sinking Feeling” as thousands of scientists, delegates and environmental activists gather in Montreal for the UN Climate Change Conference. That’s a long way from Tuvalu, and on the frosty surface of things, Montreal in winter seems like an incongruous place to convene an international conference on global warming. But as any grade school student can tell you -- at least in schools where they still teach science -- global warming will affect the glaciers of Greenland, as well as the tropical seas. An Inuit delegation from the Arctic joined marchers in Montreal, warning that all those SUV and factory emissions contributing to the greenhouse effect are melting ice in their territory, threatening their fishing and their way of life. Stephen Talbot Series Editor
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Post by KNOWTHIS on Dec 26, 2006 2:17:17 GMT -5
We're on the same wavelength again.....
Time to prepare for retreating coastlines and displaced populace.
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Post by Swamp Gas on Dec 26, 2006 2:29:06 GMT -5
We live 150 feet above sea level, literally the highest point in Jersey City.
Hope that's high enough.
Former members of the now defunct Global Climate Coalition Project. Back when formed, they completely denied Global Warming existed, it would be too expensive to maintain a clean environment, and Environmentalists wanted to control our land. Then they disbanded because the general consensus of all top scientists debunked them.
Now the modus operandi is "Solar Radiation"n and not human activity. However, they have lost a few members to this in the meantime, as Shell, BP, and Chevron among others, are admitting fossil fuel burning is the main culprit
Air Transport Association Allegheny Power Aluminum Association, Inc. American Automobile Manufacturers Association American Commercial Barge Line Co. American Farm Bureau Federation American Forest & Paper Association American Highway Users Alliance American Iron and Steel Institute American Petroleum Institute American Portland Cement Alliance Amoco Association of American Railroads Association of International Automobile Manufacturers Atlantic Richfield Coal Company Baker Refineries Bethlehem Steel BHP Minerals Chamber of Shipping of America Chemical Manufacturers Association Chevron Chrysler Corporation Cinergy CONRAIL Consumers Energy Council of Industrial Boiler Owners CSX Transportation, Inc. Cyprus-Amax Dow Chemical Company Drummond Company Duke Power Company DuPont Eastman Chemical Edison Electric Institute ELCON ExxonMobil Fertilizer Institute Ford Motor Company General Motors Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Greencool Hoechst Celanese Chemical Group Illinois Power Company Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp. McDonnell-Douglas Mobil Corporation National Association of Manufacturers National Lime Association National Mining Association National Ocean Industries Association National Petrochemical and Refiners Association Natural Rural Electric Cooperative Association Norfolk Southern Northern Indiana Public Serv. Co. Ohio Edison Parker Drilling Company Process Gas Consumers Shell Society of the Plastic Industry Southern Company Steel Manufacturers Association TECO Energy Inc. Texaco U.S. Chamber of Commerce USX Corporation Union Carbide Union Pacific Virginia Power Western Fuels Association
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Post by Thetaloops on Dec 26, 2006 3:03:47 GMT -5
There are so many signs Polar Bears are another. What advantage is it to anyone to lie about the a 30% drop in the number of Polar Bears? There is no profit in to be made. Polar bear vulnerable 01 Oct 2005 The Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG) of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) recently concluded that the IUCN Red List classification of the polar bear should be upgraded from Least Concern to Vulnerable. The recommendation is based on a projected 30 percent decline in the polar bear population the next 35 to 50 years. The principal cause of this decline is climatic warming and its negative impact on the sea ice habitat of polar bears. In some areas, contaminants may have an additional negative influence. High levels of PCBs and pesticides have been found in some polar bear populations. The Group also called for stronger regulation and monitoring of harvest levels. Greenland will be regulating a quota system as of 2006. However, there is still no regulation on hunting in north-eastern Russia. The Group has also concluded that increases in harvest levels or estimates of sub-population size should not be based solely on traditional ecological knowledge without support from sound scientific data. They also advise that quotas should be set according to the precautionary principle. There are estimated to be about 20 to 25,000 polar bears in the Arctic. There has already been some decline in sub-populations. In Canada’s western Hudson Bay, for example, the polar bear population has fallen from 1200 to 1000. Scientists there are looking at possible links between climate change and the population size. The results of this work are expected later this year. The PBSG is made up of polar bear specialists from Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Norway, Russia and the United States. The group meets every three to five years to review polar bear research that has taken place around the Arctic in recent years and review the worldwide status of polar bears. www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/arctic/polar_bear/pbt_news_pubs/index.cfm?uNewsID=59420As the world's largest terrestrial carnivore, the polar bear is the king of the great white north. It might come as a surprise then that this majestic species faces an uncertain future: Climate change is causing the disappearance of sea ice from which polar bears hunt their prey. Research funded by WWF found that with less time on the ice to hunt for food and store it leaves polar bears hungry and hinders reproduction. If current climate trends continue unabated, polar bears could become extinct by the end of this century. WWF is engaged on the ground and in the policy arena to address the causes of climate change and reduce its impact on wildlife and the world's wild places.
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Post by Thetaloops on Dec 26, 2006 3:07:37 GMT -5
Polar Bears Send an 'SOS' If ice continues melting at its current rate, polar bears could become extinct by the end of this century. photo: WWF-Canon / Jack Stein Grove Drastic changes underway in the Arctic are endangering communities, native cultures, and Arctic wildlife like polar bears, according to a new study by the Arctic Climate Impacts Assessment, a scientific commission established by Arctic-country governments to complete a comprehensive assessment of peer-reviewed science and first-hand observations from native communities. The study's findings depict an Arctic already in crisis due to human-induced global warming with worldwide ramifications. "The assessment is signaling an urgent SOS for the Arctic, but the speed and extent of global warming's damage depends on us," said Hans Verlome, director of WWF's U.S. Climate Change Program. If current trends continue unabated, polar bears could become extinct by the end of this century. Polar bears hunt their primary prey on the sea ice during winter, storing the fat they will need when spring thaw forces them ashore to fast until the ice returns in autumn. But, as WWF-funded polar bear research has shown, the annual sea ice is now melting earlier and forming later leaving polar bears with less time to hunt and more time on land where they must fast -- a development which threatens their survival. If the current rate of ice shrinkage and related weight loss continues, bears may become so thin by 2012 that they may no longer be able to reproduce. "Once the population stops reproducing, that's pretty much the end of it," said Dr. Lara Hansen, chief scientist, World Wildlife Fund. A warmer Arctic will also have negative impacts around the world, accelerating the pace of global warming, affecting migratory species that feed and breed in the Arctic, and possibly slowing the ocean circulation that brings heat from the tropics to the poles-further disrupting global and regional climate, and contributing to sea level rise. WWF is using its global reach and scientific expertise in the field to examine the effects of climate change and advocate solutions that will help preserve beloved wildlife, like polar bears, and wild places for future generations.
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Post by IndigoStarseed7 on Dec 27, 2006 8:59:32 GMT -5
Hello Everybody! I'm new to this board. Once again I've come to a community that's just been changed and is still changing. I was introduced to these threads by a Friend from the Carnicom site. I've been reading all of your posts, but haven't been able to contribute, as they weren't allowing new members last week; probably in light of the changes that have taken place. Just like any of us in here, I have no tangible solution, I have no solid proof, but I do have a sponge soul and brain; I'm soaking up the good stuff and taking into account everyone's point of view. Now it may sound mean, but I'm looking for a place where the points of view are looking in the same direction as mine. The nay sayers, debunkers, and the plain silly don't fly well with me. There have been spats on this board, but nothing like the junk that's allowed on the other site. The constant input on the subject of "normal contrail activity" was turning my stomach and making me angry. So with this said, I'll add my first bit of input. Mind you, I like to share little bits of mainly opinion and feeling based info., as I'm not even on the radar in fields such as politics or science. ;D
I purchased the DVD "An Inconvenient Truth" about a month ago. After sharing it with my house mate, he went on to buy 5 more, all of which he mailed to his family members who all live in different states. My neighbor was the person who shared knowledge of this movie with me; he'd seen it first hand in the theater. A 6th copy was purchased for him, and he can now loan it out and re watch it at his leisure. This movie is the gift that keeps on giving. It shows illustrations of the Polar Bear crisis, that'll make tears well up in your eyes. Like all of us, Gore has no real solution to fix the problem. God knows that he and all of us know, there may be no going back now, BUT we can slow this mess down hopefully by all being less wasteful.
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Post by Swamp Gas on Dec 27, 2006 11:48:45 GMT -5
Hi IndigoStarseed7 and welcome to Gastronamus Cafe
Yes, we are not tolerant of crackpots and debunkers, but then again, most friendships and marriages that last a long time are because of what people have in common, not constant bickering. I think we are beyond deciding whether Exxon/Mobil contributes to Global Warming, Bush is an idiot, or Aerosols are being sprayed or not. We like solutions and having a fun time.
The people who don't want to be here just leave, unless it is an Ed Smell or the like, then they are just thrown off, no questions asked.
So enjoy and hope to hear your contributions.
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Post by IndigoStarseed7 on Dec 27, 2006 13:20:26 GMT -5
Good point Swamp G.! I never thought of a forum as friendships or marriages, but you're so correct!!! Thanks for the welcome. ;D
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