Small islands going under?

by Michael DeNicola

            If the current climate changes continue over the next 1000 years, cartographers might be forced to redraw the map of earth due to problems associated with global warming.  All of the earth’s oceans are getting warmer and are beginning to increase the current sea level, meaning more progressive global warming could forever ruin many of earth’s small islands (Choi). 

Currently, there are a few major problems small islands face: a rise in sea level, limited water supply, and economic uncertainty.  The islands in the Caribbean and South Pacific are among some of the most beautiful places with the palm trees, crystal clear water, and white sandy beaches.  These changes in the climate could potentially ruin the small islands and leave many of the inhabitants homeless. “The Maldivian Islands may not exist for another 2,500 years because of climate change” (Choi).

            One of the most dangerous long term effects of global warming is a rise in sea level that could damage the small islands or potentially take them off the map forever.  Businesses, hotels, airports, hospitals and over fifty percent of the population live within 1.5 kilometers of the current shore line (IPCC).  An increase to water level can lead to erosion, flooding, and collapsing of structures (Marfai). 

Although improvements have been made to the current flood management system, it has been unsuccessful to deal with a wide array of coastal inundation problems for small islands that do not have sufficient technology to deal with the problems that may occur (Marfai).  Many of these major building could be at serious risk from rising water, it could create an unsafe place for people to live.  For example, many roads, airports, and seaports may become flooded and create extreme transportation problems (Marfai). 

Furthermore, many people could be injured and without homes due to the island’s residents living near the short line.  Most of these small islands do not have the technologies to handle the added water and possible storm surges.  If the sea level rises, there will be immense flooding that could possibly lead to other problems on the island such as contamination of the water supply (IPCC).

            On most of the small islands, the residents have a limited supply of fresh water; their water supply issues are some of the most critical in the world (IPCC).  An increase or decrease in rainfall could severely alter the island water supply.  For example, droughts can last as long as 43 months and occur as often as every 6 to 7 years (White).

These small islands are extremely vulnerable to many pollutants such as Escherichia coli, bacteria that are found in many of the small islands’ water supplies (White).  This cause is due to the small surface area of the islands and poor large soil hydraulic conductivities.  The poor soil severely reduces surface runoff and surface storage.  Most of the fresh water is ruined when seawater is unfiltered and thus comprises the fresh water in the atolls (White).  Furthermore, these atolls become even more defenseless when in an El Nino year.   Due to the change in climate, it can impact water storage because many fresh water sources are ruined by seawater from storm surge run off.  With the water sources in jeopardy, it will put even more strain on the economy to import drinkable water or to get adequate equipment to provide the island with clean water.  This added stress on the economy that created more problems for these countries and possible destroy them (White).    

The impact from change in climate may ruin the economy and business associated with these small islands.  The change in weather and historical patterns could make some jobs such as weather forecasting, insurance industries, and fishing industry impossible.  For example, one industry that could be affected by climate change is the insurance industry.  Insurance companies calculate insurance rates based on historical data, but more frequent and unpredictable catastrophic weather-related disasters will make predictions nearly impossible. These mistakes in insurance rate calculations could potentially bankrupt the industry (Choi). 

Another industry that will certainly experience problems is the fishing industry.  Due to increase in acid rain and carbon dioxide, it will lead to many problems in the warm coastal waters.  The emissions from cars cause sulfate aerosol depositions that exist only a few kilometers offshore. These depositions affect the seawater, particularly in coastal regions.  These costal regions are already impacted by nutrient fertilization, pollution and over fishing. In addition to altering an ecosystem’s productivity, depositions of sulfur and nitrogen compounds will increase the acidity of the waters, and reduce its alkalinity (Gramling).

According to Jim Galloway, an environmental scientist at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, “We’ve known that nitrogen deposition to estuaries and other coastal areas [can cause] eutrophication and hypoxia, conditions arising when an overabundance of nutrients promotes algal blooms and leads to very low-oxygen conditions in the water” (Gramling).  These changes in the shallow seas will have a very adverse effect on the fish that live in the waters and also ruin the fishing industry and the economy.

Climate change is the number one threat to these beautiful small islands that lie in some of the most dangerous waters.  It would be an absolute catastrophe to see some of the worlds most beautiful beaches ruined because of global warming.  It is necessary that the government takes steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and take action to prevent effects of global warming.         

Works Cited

Choi, Sung H. "It's Getting Hot in Here: the SEC's Regulation of Climate Change Shareholder Proposals Under the Ordinary Business Exception." Gale (2006): 165. Expanded Academic. Gale. 11 Nov. 2007

Gramling, Carolyn. "Acid Rain Alters Coastal Waters." Geotimes Nov. 2007. 15 Nov. 2007 <http://www.geotimes.org/current/article.html?id=nn_acidrain.html>.

Marfai, Muh A., and Lorenz King. "Coastal Flood Management in Semarang, Indonesia." Environmental Geology (2007). Springer Link. 11 Nov. 2007.

Mimura, N., L. Nurse, R.F. McLean, J. Agard, L. Briguglio, P. Lefale, R. Payet and G. Sem, 2007: Small islands. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 687-716.

White, Ian. "Climatic and Human Influences on Groundwater in Low Atolls." Vadose Zone Journal 6 (2007): 581. GeoRef. 10 Nov. 2007.