Pacific island nations are the places that are most at risk of sinking due to rising sea levels caused by global warming. Tuvalu Prime Minister Saufatu Sopoanga predicts the Pacific will completely submerge his country in 50 years. Tuvalu is a nation of about 11,000 people that measures just 10 square miles. A string of nine coral atolls, Tuvalu is just 16 feet above sea level at its highest point.
Sopoanga’s predecessor, Koloa Talake, says Tuvalu may sue the U.S. and Australia over their failure to ratify the Kyoto protocol. Australia has the largest emissions of greenhouse gases in the region, but has not signed the treaty because they say the absence of the U.S., the world?s largest producer of greenhouse gases, means the treaty is worthless. The leaders of the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu have released a statement saying they “expressed profound disappointment at the decision of the U.S. to reject the Kyoto Protocol.”
Despite its unwillingness to agree to the Kyoto restrictions, Australis has donated large amounts of money to nearby island nations. They?re expected to give about $280 million in aid to the region in the next fiscal year.
When these islands need to be evacuated, who will take in the refugees? Will their cultures manage to survive? In the past, Australia has had a strict policy against accepting refugees from nearby island nations, although New Zealand has taken some in.
Why are the oceans rising and what does this mean for our future? To find out, read ?The Coming Global Superstorm,? now only $9.95 for a hardcover autographed by Whitley, and soon to be a major motion picture,click here and scroll down.
NOTE: This news story, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.
Subscribers, to watch the subscriber version of the video, first log in then click on Dreamland Subscriber-Only Video Podcast link.