![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
airiefairie.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
talkpolitics[Error: unknown template video]
[Error: unknown template video]
Things are looking desperate for Kiribati, the tiny island nation in the Pacific. The government is negotiating with Fiji to purchase lands on an island and gradually move their population there, before the rising tides have completely swept away their country because of climate change.
Kiribati has about a hundred thousand people and that may not sound like a big deal, but given the size of those countries (Fiji has 0.8 million people) this looks like a massive exodus indeed. For years the atolls of Kiribati are experiencing rising waters, now a large part of their settlements suffering from periodic floods. Some of the 32 islands of the archipelago are already effectively gone.
If the negotiations are successful, this could be the first climate migration in modern times. Of course, migrations have occurred often in the past between the Pacific islands. But this is something unprecedented in size and consequences, especially in modern history.
The flooding of the islands is not the only problem, though. The saltifying process has brought an enormous problem with fresh water shortages, too. The other problem is that Kiribati does not really have a strong economy, most of its income comes from fish export and some tourism, and they would be in enormous debt if they are to purchase land in another country. But they might have run out of options at this point.
The president Tong is doing his best to persuade Fiji to sell them land on the island Vanua Levu (the 2nd largest in Fiji) where the exiled nation could be hosted. He is smart enough to not opt for advising his people to save themselves separately as they deem appropriate and disperse his nation, but instead he has adopted a national strategy. He says he does not want the Kiribati people to be mere refugees in a foreign country, where they would be seen as second-class people, and potentially suffer from abuse and exploitation. He wants to grant them a decent life. So he has started a qualification program that would raise their skills and make them a valuable asset to their new hosting society, a skilled labour force that could contribute to the Fijian economy instead of hanging on its neck like a burden.
There have been other ideas for salvation in the past, like building artificial islands... but the global financial crisis has made it impossible because that would be too expensive. Now the only option left is to find a new place to move to, before the tides have swallowed their country.
And that is not the only country finding itself in such trouble due to climate change. The Maldives have had this issue for many years, and the 2004 tsunami served as a red light.
Things are looking desperate for Kiribati, the tiny island nation in the Pacific. The government is negotiating with Fiji to purchase lands on an island and gradually move their population there, before the rising tides have completely swept away their country because of climate change.
Kiribati has about a hundred thousand people and that may not sound like a big deal, but given the size of those countries (Fiji has 0.8 million people) this looks like a massive exodus indeed. For years the atolls of Kiribati are experiencing rising waters, now a large part of their settlements suffering from periodic floods. Some of the 32 islands of the archipelago are already effectively gone.
If the negotiations are successful, this could be the first climate migration in modern times. Of course, migrations have occurred often in the past between the Pacific islands. But this is something unprecedented in size and consequences, especially in modern history.
The flooding of the islands is not the only problem, though. The saltifying process has brought an enormous problem with fresh water shortages, too. The other problem is that Kiribati does not really have a strong economy, most of its income comes from fish export and some tourism, and they would be in enormous debt if they are to purchase land in another country. But they might have run out of options at this point.
The president Tong is doing his best to persuade Fiji to sell them land on the island Vanua Levu (the 2nd largest in Fiji) where the exiled nation could be hosted. He is smart enough to not opt for advising his people to save themselves separately as they deem appropriate and disperse his nation, but instead he has adopted a national strategy. He says he does not want the Kiribati people to be mere refugees in a foreign country, where they would be seen as second-class people, and potentially suffer from abuse and exploitation. He wants to grant them a decent life. So he has started a qualification program that would raise their skills and make them a valuable asset to their new hosting society, a skilled labour force that could contribute to the Fijian economy instead of hanging on its neck like a burden.
There have been other ideas for salvation in the past, like building artificial islands... but the global financial crisis has made it impossible because that would be too expensive. Now the only option left is to find a new place to move to, before the tides have swallowed their country.
And that is not the only country finding itself in such trouble due to climate change. The Maldives have had this issue for many years, and the 2004 tsunami served as a red light.
(no subject)
Date: 11/3/12 20:11 (UTC)http://talk-politics.livejournal.com/1377618.html?thread=109498450#t109498450
(no subject)
Date: 11/3/12 21:14 (UTC)Like
(no subject)
Date: 11/3/12 21:41 (UTC)That was kind of my point, what will it cost us as a species to mitigate the effects? Is it even worth bothering? Do we impovrish ourselves trying to maintain the status quo, or do we concentrate our efforts elsewhere?
(no subject)
Date: 11/3/12 22:29 (UTC)If it is a snowy winter and you are driving your car with summer tires, and someone tells you to buy winter tires unless you want to have a car accident... would you tell them that this won't ever happen and it is not cost efficient to go buy new winter tires? Would you risk crashing somewhere in order to find out if it is cost efficient? And wouldn't a car repair cost 1000 times more than actually buying a set of winter tires?
(no subject)
Date: 12/3/12 04:28 (UTC)Trying to pre-empt effects is going to be a crap shoot even if the best experts make their best estimates for doing so.
Human beings however, are remarkable in our ability to adapt. It's rarely a fun process, but it's something we're pretty good at historically.
(no subject)
Date: 12/3/12 09:29 (UTC)This comes timely as it seems next month's monthly topic will be about the rise and fall of civilisations, it is leading the poll at the moment. =)
(no subject)
Date: 12/3/12 05:58 (UTC)With respect, I disagree.
This logic would be sound if our Environmental state was boolean. Then we might say, "Damage is done, lets move to sound solutions"
But our Environment is not Boolean, the damaging behaviors are ongoing, and the consequences take up a continuum. The "whodunit" phase is vital, because only it can legitimize the steps necessary to prevent the further changes that may make today's "sound solutions" irrelevant in future decades.
To illustrate: It is not enough to plan for the relocation and compensation of everyone who lives within a meter of sea level, while ignoring current energy policy, since continued fossil fuel use might lead to a two meter rise, or to ecological changes in the highlands you propose to relocate people to.