Pacific Paradise Country Plummeting into Rising Sea!
The tiny and fragile Pacific country of Tuvalu is falling victim to climate change with the rising sea. Photo courtesy/Sean Gallagher
Greetings! Once again I blog about climate change and this time the tiny Pacific island country of Tuvalu is falling victim to the rising sea. Tuvalu is located between Australia and Hawaii. This small country is made up of nine islands, which combines for a landmass of about ten square miles. Photojournalist, Sean Gallagher who visited the tiny island country said, “It’s incredibly picturesque. But because of climate change, it’s also incredibly fragile.”Gallagher continued and said, “The highest point in Tuvalu is only a few meters above sea level, so everybody is aware that if changes happen in the sea, this will immediately affect life there.”
The worst time period for Tuvalu are the months January, February and March because the seasonal “king tides cause severe flooding. It’s been that way for decades.” Gallagher said, “Water literally seeps up through the ground below. This could happen in minutes and I witnessed many communities being suddenly flooded. Even the airport runway was underwater at times. Locals told me that this is an increasing problem, and they worry about it getting worse as sea levels rise.”
Gallagher states that the rising sea level brings “a host of problems.” Much like the ghost forests I talked about in one of my previous blogs, were the rising sea brings salt water into forests and kills them off, leaving just their bare trunks and branches. As so Gallagher states, “The country’s limited farmland can be poisoned by the salt water. Its groundwater supply is at risk. And the sea’s warming temperature presents a threat to the coral reefs that surround the islands and the fish that live there.”
“Climate change is having real-world impacts right now.” Gallagher said. “It’s not a problem for the future. It’s a crisis for today.”
Gallagher reports, “Tuvaluan Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga has been sounding alarm bells for years about climate change, urging industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions. He has said his country is at risk of disappearing one day, like a modern-day Atlantis.”
The Prime Minister told a UN conference in 2014, “No national leader in the history of humanity has ever faced this question: Will we survive or will we disappear under the sea?”
If you are in Florida and you see a sick or injured manatee, please call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at: 1-888-404-FWCC. They are the folks who are responsible for rescuing us in Florida.
Here’s the Save the Manatee Club link to learn more about manatees …
Here’s a cool link for you to learn more about how we’re rescued and brought into rehabilitation …
~ Kobee Manatee
Related Posts
Climate Change Creates “Ghost Forests” Haunting Mid-Atlantic Coast! (October 5, 2016)
Rising Sea Levels Target Southeast US! (May 23, 2019)
Are You Ready for Coastal Flooding every Two Weeks from Climate Change? (June 21, 2018)
Record Breaking February 2017 Temperatures – Compliments of Climate Change? (March 2, 2017)
