Rising sea claims previously disputed island

After 30 years of discussion India and Bangladesh regarding the territorial rights to an island situated in a river that forms a shared border between India and Bangladesh, the small land mass has been declared officially vanished.

Measuring 3.5 kilometers long and 3 kilometers wide, New Moore Island, or South Talpatti to the Bengali people, was first noticed in 1974 on the Hariabhanga River by satellite imaging, sitting at 2 meters above sea level.

However, since 1987, the island’s surface has been submerging due to the rising sea and now can only be seen at the lowest tide. Professor Sugata Hazra, Director of School of Oceanographic Studies in India stated, “There is no presence of the island now; recent satellite images establish this.”

Moore Island thus joins other isles regionally and worldwide that have succumbed or are effectively sinking due to the rising sea levels of global warming. We are saddened to know of yet another submerged island.

Meanwhile, we pray that the people of India, Bangladesh and indeed the world make step in unity to ease global warming via Earth-friendly decisions and compassionate lifestyles.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has on several occasions addressed the devastating effects of rising sea levels and what we can urgently do to halt them, as during an October 2009 videoconference in Indonesia.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The threats imposed by global warming are more than imminent; they are already here, as you can see through many disasters, upheavals, climate refugees, phenomena around the world.

It’s the rising sea levels as well that force people to lose their home, their ancestral home, to go begging elsewhere; losing also their dignity, losing everything, not just physical possessions, but losing their loved ones as well.

We must change while there is still time. If we want to receive the mercy of Heaven for our life here on Earth, we must first be merciful in granting the same dignity and freedom of life to the animals.

So please, everyone, plant veg, be veg and we can go green later when we’ve already saved the planet.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h98JL-wXyzAx...
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0324/Global-warming-as...
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/new-moore-no-more-rising-sea-claims-island...

Climate change refugees: a growing sector

In the coastal village of Moti Danti, the Gujarat state government tried building a 10-foot wall to protect residents from the encroaching sea waters and intensified storm effects. However, a portion of the village remained engulfed by the sea, and hundreds of families have had to flee their homes. Further south along the state’s coastline, rising seas have also eroded the entire road for Kaladra village, forcing hundreds to rebuild further inland.

Meanwhile, up to 10,000 people in the Sundarbans region have been permanently displaced following cyclones, and other villages in Orissa state have completely disappeared due to coastal erosion.

In fact, with global temperatures continuing to increase, sea levels will continue to rise, unleashing extreme weather events and rendering a projected 125 million people in South Asia alone as environmental migrants by century’s end.

We pray for Heaven’s protection and for the climate refugees. Let us quickly take compassionate and sustainable actions to halt climate change for the welfare of brothers and sisters around the world.

Supreme Master Ching Hai, whose humanitarian endeavors include assistance to refugees, further addressed this tragic situation during an interview with Ireland’s East Coast Radio FM in November 2008.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: If we don’t have global warming, then no one would be a climate refugee I ask everyone to please imagine if that were yourself in the refugee’s situation, experiencing all these troubles – insecurities, hunger, lacking all comfort, humiliation, undignified situation, uncertain of the morrows of your future and the future of your helpless children.

Just imagine it. Then try to solve this tragedy by helping in whatever way we can. And above all, and most urgently of all, be veg, go green to save the planet, to prevent such trauma and to build a bright future for the world, for our co-citizens.
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main43.asp?filename=Ne141109exiled.asp