Tropicalrainforests’s Blog

It is impossible to miss opinions of the people who do not believe in global warming. I am not going to argue with them – no time to waste here.

But here is what I think.

If we continue emitting as much pollution into the atmosphere as we have done until now, I am afraid it may be too late to stem the effects of “runaway” global warming which can be devastating on a scale we may not yet predict.

There are already consequences that real people have to deal with as a matter of urgency.

You may never have heard about Kiribati, a nation of low-lying islands in the Pacific Ocean (to the north

Kiribati flooded

east of Australia) but this nation now faces a real threat of disappearance under water because of rising global sea levels. They have even started talking to other countries about a possibility of complete relocation of their citizens to safer places. So they effectively become “ecomigrants”.

The same story with the Maldives (a better known country for its tourism industry), an island nation in the Indian Ocean.

There are of course many other coastal locations throughout the world which are vulnerable to global warming effects. We will see more and more ecomigrants originating from these locations.

Take Hurricane Katrina which virtually wiped out New Orleans in 2005. Hurricanes form in warm climatic conditions. So the higher the temperature of the ocean water, the bigger the chance of a hurricane formation. This hurricane also caused a big migration of people to other places in the US.

Florida is another vulnerable location. I am sure it is a beautiful place with beautiful beaches but I just feel for the people who live there – they are truly exposed to the warming-induced climatic risks.

Some coastal big cities like New York may also disappear …

Where do I stop with this list of places?

Well, we live in Scotland. I guess we can always try to hide in the mountains, the Highlands … But that is an inappropriate joke, sorry!

Irina