EdEarl Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 treehugger.com The day has finally come, and a critical landmark in the saga of global climate change is occurring as we speak—and hardly anyone has noticed. The Carteret Islanders of Papua New Guinea have become the world's first entire community to be displaced by climate change. They're the first official refugees of global warming--and they're packing up their lives to move out of the way of ever-rising waters that threaten to overtake their homes and crops. The island they call home will be completely underwater by 2015. This story first broke a couple years ago, when it was first suggested that these islanders could become climate change refugees. But now that it's actually happening--seems no one's paying attention. And though the scenario isn't as apocalyptic as some might imagine, life for the islanders has indeed all but become impossible on the Cartarets: On the Carterets, king tides have washed away their crops and rising sea levels poisoned those that remain with salt. The people have been forced to move, I believe there have already been other climate change refugees, but not recorded as such. For example, some farms have closed in the US, for example in California, due to the drought. So far the numbers are small, but might grow quickly at any time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schneibster Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 The Bay of Bengal and the Marshall Islands are good candidates for the next wave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdEarl Posted April 8, 2014 Author Share Posted April 8, 2014 Also Marjuro atoll, Hawaii, and Tuvalu. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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