Pohnpei, Micronesia - Small Uninhabited Islands Already Going Under

[hatrack]

KOLONIA, Pohnpei (AP) _ An environmentalist in Micronesia says rising seas due to global warming are already starting to take away islands in their homeland.

Ben Namakin is an official with the Conservation Society of Pohnpei.

In the last five years, he says rising ocean levels have engulfed a sandy islet a couple of miles south of Pohnpei and split another nearby islet.

Namakin says he's worried about the future of Micronesia. His home atoll of Kiribati has a mean elevation of less than 10 feet.


EDIT

http://www.kpua.net/news.php?id=10915

[Deep13]

1. Is there a map somewhere projecting what the Earth will look like...

...in 50 years or so. That is, what coats will be affected and what icey bits will be lost and where desert will be that it isn't?

[phantom power]

3. even better, here is an interactive map:

http://flood.firetree.net/

You can play with sea level rise and see what happens. Either it will be a lot warmer, or possibly a lot colder.

[Greyskye]

8. Excellent link!

Wow. At the default setting (+7m) I will be within 30 minutes drive from the Ocean. I'm currently 1.5 hours away. In addition, the Sacramento valley region between Sacramento and Modesto - HUGE agricultural region - would be underwater. Hell, just going to +1m floods the valley between Sacramento and Stockton! I would have to drive a whopping 45 minutes max to see the new inland sea.

[intaglio]

10. A word of warning about this map

It uses mean sea levels for high and low tide not highest astronomical (spring) tide data. I checked out my area and a 1m rise barely had any effect upon Truro but it is known that Truro will flood regularly on spring tides with a 1m rise in sea level. If a Southerly or SW wind of force 6 or greater were to blow for about a day it could even flood on half tides. SW winds are not uncommon in Cornwall.

[NNadir]

12. Damn if that isn't the coolest thing.

I think I'll check out Broward County Florida.

[phantom power]

13. The google maps software must have some nice hooks designed into it.

[Deep13]

2. .

:kick:

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. Am I correct in thinking that due to the earth's rotation and the effect

of centrifugal force an overall rise of inches, worldwide, would result in a rise of many feet in the tropics, along the equator?

Any planetary scientists know?

[Deep13]

6. Don't know about the rotation,...

...but lunar gravity causes a bulge in the ocean that essentially follows the moon around.

[Tin Man]

9. You're halfway right - the dynamic of seawater distribution

...is largely governed by planetary conditions:

(a) earth's gravity shapes the sea surface into a spherical distribution, while
(b) the earth's rotational rate causes the sphere of water to distort ever so slightly and assume a shape like somebody sitting on a beach ball, and
(c) the gravity of the sun and moon "pull" forth bulges in the water facing those objects.

But all of these forces are independent of climate. As a result, whether global sea levels rise or fall, the "shape" of the water remains largely unchanged - and the resulting deviation in surface elevation will be uniform around the globe.

[Divernan]

5. I've visited some of those islands in Micronesia.

The little settlements of homes are very close to the high tide lines, because people get around their islands/do their trading/visiting/shopping/etc., in their little motorized skiffs. There are no roads to most of these little enclaves, so no cars or bicycles. In mid morning it was like mini-highways of little boats traveling back and forth. And even though the islands/islets may have some elevations high enough to survive a rising ocean, the terrain there is quite rugged and made of hard coral, and not like the pleasant sandy beaches where the small homes are presently built.

And the rising ocean will prevent the present coral reefs and ocean plants from getting the necessary sunlight, so they will die, breaking the marine food chain, and the fish will leave because there will be no food for them. The local people cannot survive without fishing.

I'm glad I saw this part of the world when I did -

And you all know that Florida is similarly low lying.

[enid602]

7. Pohnpei; I was there too

The main island of Pohnpei and others (including Korsae) are all volcanic Islands (with elevation), but they have over 3,000 islands in all, I believe.

[Shallah Kali]

11. Parts of Texas will be going under as well including Padre Island & Galveston

http://www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?contentID=5239

an environmental group did a demonstration about a year ago in my state Maine showing how high the water will go with global warming plus a storm surge. Several important areas such as fire departments of our biggest cities will go under. not good.