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Rising Sea Levels Swallow Tiny Island, Settle 30-Year Dispute
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons. By: Mmj171188.
A small, Asian island has been completely swallowed by the sea—and it’s not part of the Maldives.
New Moore Island is now completely submerged underwater. If you’ve never heard of it before, it’s located in the Bay of Bengal and part of the Sundarbans (the largest block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world). It was also part of a 30 year dispute between India and Bangladesh; but at least that’s finally been resolved.
It may surprise you to learn that New Moore Island is not the first in the bay to be completely submerged. The island of Lohachara went underwater in 1996; all of the inhabitants had to move to the mainland. At least 10 other islands are also at risk, including Ghoramara, which is at least half submerged.
Apparently, sea levels of the Bay of Bengal were on a steady rise of 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) per year—until 2000. Since then, they’ve been rising nearly 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) per year. Oceanographer, Sugata Hazra, stated:
“We will have ever larger numbers of people displaced from the Sundarbans as more island areas come underwater.”
As the sea levels continue to rise, more island nations face the risk of becoming completely submerged. Even coastal and beach areas are vulnerable to the effects of climate change. More people will head for mainland, tourist areas will go under, agricultural areas face damages, and more habitats will be utterly destroyed. When will it end?
By Heidi Marshall
Tags: Bay of Bengal, Climate change, island completely submerged, New Moore Island, rising sea levels
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I found the BBC report in question. It states: “…There has never been a permanent settlement on the now-vanished island, which even in its heyday was never more than two metres (about six feet) above sea level.”
In other words, even at the most prime conditions, the island was never more than 6 feet above sea level. However, the rest of the article does say that the island is, indeed, submerged.:
“A tiny island claimed for years by India and Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal has disappeared beneath the rising seas” … “Recent satellites images show the whole island under water.”
“…small uninhabited offshore island that emerged in the Bay of Bengal in the aftermath of the Bhola cyclone in 1970 and disappeared at some later point.”
“The emergence of the island was first discovered by an American satellite in 1974…”
“…neither country established any permanent settlement there because of the island’s geological instability based on silt deposits in a delta which floods every year…”
Maybe all this have more to do with river delta dynamics than with rising sea levels.
This is a strange story. Typical estimates of rising sea levels along the east coast of India suggest a total increase of perhaps 0.25 feet over the entire past century (see the United States NOAA tides and currents web page). In a BBC report, this island was said to be 2 meters above sea level. Have you checked the facts of the case?