Endangered Island Nations

Perhaps one of the biggest impediments facing meaningful counteraction of climate change is that many in the industrialized world have yet to realize and acknowledge its consequences. Even for those of us who accept that climate change is a real problem now and in our future, it remains an abstraction. Yet it is the industrial and commercial powers of the world who, together, are responsible for a large share of humanity's carbon dioxide emissions. We, as the industrial world, are responsible for a large degree of the present climatic changes, yet we have not come to feel the brunt of the consequences.

Who is bearing the brunt of climate change and its side-effects? Who stands to lose the most, at least in the short term? Through this semester, I hope to follow this line of questioning as it pertains to one of the most-discussed effects of climate change: rising sea levels.

Throughout the world's seas and oceans are small island nations, largely unknown to or unnoticed by most outsiders. Several of these nations have no land more than a few meters above sea level, and are largely comprised of atolls. It is these countries and their inhabitants who stand to lose the most to rising seas. A relatively small rise in sea level could submerge the entire land area of some, or at least render them unfit for human habitation.

These island nations, and their responses to the issue of rising sea levels will be my primary area of focus in these blogs. For each country, I will look at not only the national government's handling of the situation, but also how different groups within that nation react to the threat, and their views of the governmental response. Other than the obvious political component, I will also attempt to shed light on other socio-economic ramifications in each of these cases.

This situation highlights the unfairness of many problems in the world today. These small nations, who bear minimal blame for climate change, will bear the brunt of sea level rise, a possible watery oblivion. Whether or not the futures of these countries can still be secured, perhaps a greater attention to their precarious situation could help motivate more powerful nations to take responsibility for the future of the global climate.