Recently the AVAAZ organisation sent me a most worrying story about rising sea levels and how this will effect people living on islands around the world. For example, Tuvalu, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, have conceded defeat in their battle with the rising sea, announcing that they will abandon their homeland. After being rebuffed by Australia, the Tuvaluans asked New Zealand to accept its 11,000 citizens, but it has not agreed to do so.
earth-policy.org/Updates/Update2.htm
“During the twentieth century, sea levels rose by 20-30 centimeters (8-12 inches).” This trend shows no sign of abating, especially with the earth temperature increasing, leading to the melting of the polar ice caps, leading to more water and more floods. Feeling threatened by these rising waters over which they have little control, the island countries have organized into an Alliance of Small Island States, a group formed in 1990 specifically to lobby on behalf of these countries vulnerable to climate change. In a week, these small islands are tabling a resolution calling on the UN Security Council to address climate change as a pressing threat to international peace and security. But the island states’ campaign for survival is meeting fierce opposition, so they need our help. Please sign the petition found at the link below, which will be presented by the islands’ ambassadors at the UN next week. The more signatures we raise, the more urgently this call will ring out to protect our common future:
avaaz.org/en/islands_climate_warning/
Thanks.