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A series of opinion pieces on, mostly climate change and related subjects to do with New Zealand.

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Mass population movement

23/9/2015

8 Comments

 
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With all the refugee problems in Europe due to the wars in Syria, Palestine and Iraq we should be thinking about our own situation in the South Pacific. 
When many of the Pacific Islands flood due to climate change Australia and New Zealand we will be the nearest stable country and we will not be able to stand idly by and watch these people lose their island homes. It would be a natural shared responsibility for New Zealand be responsible for the Polynesians and Australia for the Micronesians and the Melanesians.

8 Comments
Bob Bristow
24/9/2015 05:52:28 pm

Thanks Bob for posing the question, and reminding us to think about the unthinkable.

The solution to “Climate Change” refugees needs discussion and solid agreement between countries, the United Nations is most suited framework to host these meetings. The problem should not be ignored, or swept under the table by blinkered politicians who hope that nothing bad will occur during their tenure. We know that in the not so distant future low lying land will need to be abandoned, so humanity must face up to this fact, and plan well in advance.

Some things threatened states can do for themselves, with support from the international community. In Bangladesh, floating schools are being introduced. Kiribati has bought higher lying land 2000km away in Fiji. Holland has developed the world's largest artificial island (Flevopolder) and in the Maldives artificial Islands are being developed.

Mankind must stay well ahead of known changes and hazards, not wait until they happen, then manage in a panic, as is happening in Europe today. That is no way to progress.


How one architect transformed education in flood-ravaged Bangladesh through 'floating schools'

http://mashable.com/2015/07/21/bangladesh-floating-schools/#9V6E_Ea7Akk9


Intrepid Maldivians have come up with a new strategy to fight the rising tide: creating mini floating islands!


http://inhabitat.com/maldives-to-fight-rising-sea-levels-with-floating-islands/koen-olthuis-maldives-island5/

Besieged by the rising tides of climate change, Kiribati buys land in Fiji

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/01/kiribati-climate-change-fiji-vanua-levu

Reply
Bob Bingham
25/9/2015 08:08:23 pm

Hi Bob.The mass movement of people is more likely to disrupt our lifestyle more than the direct action of climate change. Europe has already got the problem of the Middle East and Australia and New Zealand will have the problem of the South Pacific.
The USA and Canada will have the problem of Mexico and the rest of mid America. Their was a really good post that prompted me to do my piece and although I think it was by Joe Romm I cant find it. Essentially it showed a temperature chart for North America and the Southern area was completely dried out. The message was that those people would be looking for a new home.

Reply
Bob Bristow
25/9/2015 11:38:18 pm

I agree with your assessment, there will be immense changes, and this is a link to the visionary article by Joe Romm in ClimateProgress...

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/09/08/3699165/refugees-dust-bowl-mexico/

Reply
Bob Bingham
26/9/2015 09:22:08 am

Thanks for that Bob. I hunted high and low for it but must have been using the wrong keywords. Bob

Bob Bristow
2/10/2015 12:59:14 pm

Just read this report by the U.S. Geological Survey, which most would agree is a respectable and efficient scientific body. They put many atolls being uninhabitable within decades. That is not very far into the future.

Unless governments accept this and plan, I can see chaos... If we value human life then we must get going in top gear sometime very soon . . . or are we going to stop listening to science because we do not like what they are saying ?

"Many Atolls May be Uninhabitable Within Decades Due to Climate Change"

“Many atoll islands will be flooded annually, contaminating the limited freshwater resources with saltwater, and likely forcing inhabitants to abandon their islands in decades, not centuries, as previously thought,” said USGS geologist and lead author of the study, Curt Storlazzi.






"The study explored the combined effect of storm-induced wave-driven flooding and sea level rise on atoll islands within the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, including Laysan and Midway Islands, which are home to many threatened and endangered endemic species. The same modeling approach is applicable to most populated atolls around the world."

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4346&from=rss_home#.Vg3Gtn393Qk

Reply
Bob Bingham
2/10/2015 08:13:50 pm

As we have seen from the news reports about Europe millions of people are on the move due to civil wars, some of which is due to climate change. The tragedy of these families who have lost homes, businesses and income is clearly evident. These people have lost everything and are trying to start a new life in a safer land. In my view this is what climate change is all about and will lead to the disruption to our settled lifestyle.
The Pacific islands are an obvious tragedy in the making and will need the help of many nations to resettle these people..

Reply
Dennis JANICEK link
27/4/2018 04:59:50 am

*Climate Denial Today*
#global_warming

Worried About Refugees? Just Wait Until We Dust-Bowlify Mexico And Central America, JOE ROMM, SEP 8, 2015
https://thinkprogress.org/worried-about-refugees-just-wait-until-we-dust-bowlify-mexico-and-central-america-2dc879a04729/

It is the combination of contributing causes that produce the effect. As lightning goes from the East to the West, droughts are occurring all over the world. Droughts in Australia, Africa (Capetown and West Africa), Syria and South Asia. To get civil war you need a readiness to support terrorism in people and nation-state actors to supply weapons in addition to drought. Elsewhere the contributing causes will produce other political effects.

What drought has produced in the West US is not a call for war but a call to harvest wood in forests faster to prevent forest fires:

*The American West is burning*
By Senator Steve Daines (R)
html/opinions/the-american-west-is-burning/2017/09/20/dfa03c12-9d7d-11e7-9c8d-cf053ff30921_story.html

People all over the world are cutting their forests for temporary income to survive. They are draining their aquifers dry. Perhaps allowing starvation to occur after they blame the victims of the dust bowl by militarizing the border with México with a wall. Perhaps people will just accept starvation like in Ethiopia. However a war in Mexico that spreads to the poor in the US is possible if a source of weapons can be found among the enemies of the US.

I can see a good deal of chaos, people are not planning for damage control but are waiting for the emergency.

Reply
Dennis JANICEK link
27/4/2018 05:14:04 am

Sorry, I missed a hyperlink where a Republican is calling for cutting down more trees because of drying from #global_warming!

*The American West is Burning*
By Senator Steve Daines (R) Montana
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/opinions/the-american-west-is-burning/2017/09/20/dfa03c12-9d7d-11e7-9c8d-cf053ff30921_story.html

Reply



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    Bob Bingham 

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