Disappearing Countries (and what you can do about it)

This December, I will be standing in a country that is expected to disappear. Why? It is at severe risk due to climate change. The entire country of the Maldives– a chain of 1,200 islands no more than 4 feet above sea level- is expected to vanish beneath the ocean in my lifetime. One of the most photographed places in the world, I want to see it before it’s literally gone.

As a sustainability specialist, I’ve been reading about ‘global warming’ since the 1990s, in middle school science class (when it was still a highly debated topic). Today 97% of all scientists are in agreement that climate change IS happening, and IS caused by human actions (according to NASA, and every renowned expert). The effects are evident in the steep rise of extreme weather events, acidification of the oceans, melting glaciers, and globally rising ocean temperatures, which are leading to higher sea levels. NOAA tracks and records the weather events each year, and in 2015 alone, we can see how the weather events are increasingly dramatic, with records being broken all over the globe. And this is only a partial list.

 

The Maldives aren’t alone in this risk. While sea level rise does not increase uniformly around the world, changes are happening everywhere at varying rates. It’s not just about melting glaciers, either. If you think back to middle school science class, you learned how temperature can cause molecules to either shrink together or expand. When the oceans heat up, they expand. The only place to expand is up, and onto land.

 

Everything close to the water is at risk. This includes Micronesia. And the sensitive Florida Everglades. And NYC. Basically the entire eastern coast of the U.S. (National Geographic has an interactive map but you have to have a paid subscription of $1/month). Will they disappear next year? No. But governments are already working on climate change mitigation plans to deal with the harsh reality that is clearly heading their way. The Maldives have been on my radar for about 8 years, and seeing this beautiful country in person- before doing so requires scuba gear-  will be checked off my bucket list in 2016. By 2050, it’s expected that the entire population of the Maldives will have been relocated to either Sri Lanka or Australia, which will certainly be a very different experience. 

 

So, what’s the point here? Go travel? No. Well, yes, if that’s your thing, but be sure to purchase carbon offsets for that jet plane.

The point is that there are THOUSANDS of treasured places at risk due to climate change. Sea level is just ONE example of how climate change negatively impacts millions of people. But the solutions are plentiful.

1. Talk to Trump. Of course, tell Trump that the head of the EPA should not be a person who chooses to ignore scientific facts, and an overwhelming consensus on this extensively researched topic. A climate change denier has no place heading the EPA.
2. Paris Climate Treaty. This decades-long culmination resulted from extensive negotiations between 196 countries to try to find a way to slow down this globally destructive process. If Trump pulls out of this treaty, it will have a domino effect, and the whole thing will fall apart. This means things will only get worse even faster.Sign the petition to voice your concerns.
3. Do Something Different! Every single day, we make choices and take actions that emit greenhouse gases (GHG). Even the most saintly environmentalist has a carbon footprint, so don’t feel guilty and throw your hands up in despair. Learn more about where GHG comes from. Any action will make a difference. Choose to avoid styrofoam by carrying your own reusable container to the restaurant for leftovers. Walk or bike instead of driving. When you do drive, plan your trips to run errands as efficiently as possible, and invite a friend to join you for a fun carpool! Insulate your house and buy LED bulbs to save money and reduce coal burning. Learn to cook plant-based meals, or start growing your own herbs or veggies. Buy secondhand whenever possible, saving money and giving new life to a product instead of extracting raw materials to manufacture more stuff!
4. Spread the Word. Talk about it. Make it fun! Invite friends to a challenge together, to learn new behaviors, to become informed. Being an active part of saving our planet is a rewarding feeling, and particularly powerful today.

 

Disappearing Communities

Somewhere over the Atlantic ocean, some 15 hours into a 23 hour travel day, I sit in an airline seat with sore hips and a need to reposition myself. Luckily, I am traveling next to the most wonderful, generous, inspiring travel companion one could ever hope for- my wife, Bethany. I lean my head against her shoulder, our self-inflated neck pillows creating a workable cushion for us, and we leaned our ears close together so that we could share a set of headphones and watch our fourth movie together. We pulled out the umbilical cord attached to the seat and our armrest gave birth to a remote. I pressed the buttons on the tiny remote until my thumb was bruised, and finally, the screen lit up with the opening scene of  “The Island President.”

I am no stranger to climate change. I was the precocious president of Earth Club in high school in the 90s, and my sole passion in everything that I do professionally is related to spreading the word on the importance of sustainable living. (And, yes, I realize the irony of this statement giving the current setting on a jet plane leapfrogging the continents with a trail of carbon emissions). I had heard about the plight of the Maldives before. But this documentary isn’t just another sad story of natural disaster. It is about how our world responds.

As with many other low-lying island nations, they are at risk of being completely swallowed by the rising oceans. Almost 1200 coral islands off of the Indian sub-continent combine to form this disperse island nation.Only 200 of those coral islands are inhabited, but the entire country covers 400 miles of open sea. It is one of the most geographically dispersed nations on earth, and the closest to sea level. For them, climate change is not a theory, it’s a reality. In this small country, they are way beyond mitigation. They are almost past adaptation, even. While they spend millions piling up sand along their shorelines, they are well aware that they are only delaying the inevitable. Their home country will no longer exist for the next generation.

A rise of three feet in sea level would submerge the 1200 islands of the Maldives enough to make them uninhabitable.

In December 26th, 2004, the chain of islands was hit by a Tsunami in the Indian ocean. Only 9 islands survived unscathed, while 108 people died. The tallest wave was 14 feet high. According to ousted president Nasheed, “If carbon emissions were to stop today, the planet would not see a difference for 60 to 70 years,” Nasheed said. “If carbon emissions continue at the rate they are climbing today, my country will be underwater in seven years.”

By 2020, Maldives plans to eliminate or offset all of its greenhouse gas emissions. At the 2009 International Climate Talks, President Mohamed Nasheed explained that:

“For us swearing off fossil fuels is not only the right thing to do, it is in our economic self-interest… Pioneering countries will free themselves from the unpredictable price of foreign oil; they will capitalize on the new green economy of the future, and they will enhance their moral standing giving them greater political influence on the world stage.”

This is a powerful and inspiring story. Here is this leader of a country who, after fighting a dictatorship for 20 years, including imprisonment, finally succeeds at a regime change and becomes president at age 41. He tackles nothing less than the biggest global crisis facing our planet, even though there is ultimately little impact he can directly have that will save his country. Still, they devote their remaining efforts to becoming carbon neutral, to set an example for all the rest of us. If they can do it, with what little resources they have, why can’t the rest of us? Well, that’s simple. We don’t have nearly as much to lose.

Long before I had heard of the Maldives’ dilemma, I was actually already closely following a similar story on the island of Nauru. This 8 mile long island nation came up in a world geography game that I was playing, and I became instantly infatuated by it. Like the Maldives, Nauru is disappearing, and its denizens are becoming climate refugees in nearby nations. While it is kind of Australia to take on the lost islanders, it must be absolutely tragic to lose one’s own country. Not just fleeing it, as millions have been forced to do, but knowing that it will not even be there to go back to in the future. Unless you bring your scuba gear. It’s like a modern day Atlantis.

I find it interesting to draw a parallel between this and my own nation. You may think we have little in common with the fewer than 300,000 Maldivian people. Yet, just last fall the U.S. East Coast suffered a deluge of damage from Hurricane Sandy. The aftermath included an onslaught of criticism and discussion about the rights of property owners who choose to rebuild in an area so subject to natural disasters. Should they even be allowed to rebuild? Should insurance be responsible for those who know they are at risk, but who choose to stay here anyway? It’s a very stark contrast to the feel-good story about Nasheed’s nation. Who’s to say what is right?

We had the same discussion when Hurricane Katrina wiped out parts of Louisiana that were only in existence thanks to complicated levy systems that held back the flow of water from what would otherwise be an underwater oasis. At what point is human intervention considered desirable to alter nature’s course? Do property owners always override natural patterns? You could argue that government should buy back these at risk properties for natural preservation areas, and let them return to what they once were. Or that it’s up to the homeowners to pay for their own losses if they choose to stay in a high risk area. How does this mode of thinking translate back to someplace like the Maldives?

In our country, we assume that all people have the luxury to relocate. We have plenty of other land available, so why don’t they just get a job somewhere else? It seems so black and white. Yet, the one thing that I think the Maldives can teach us, is that sometimes is not where, but what, that matters. In their case, there is no where else to go. Almost 80% of their land mass is at risk. If they move, they are moving to Sri Lanka, or India, or another country. This seems like a devastating loss. They will loss their communities, their traditions, their very culture… likely even their language will disappear over time.

Do we not lose out in these same ways when we are forced to move? We may not have the same depth of history or culture in our own communities, but you can bet that those Katrina refugees suffered from feeling lost, hopeless, depressed, when dispersed amongst the rest of the nation. They didn’t even have to leave the country. But their loss is no less powerful on an individual level.

All I’m saying, is that we need to have more appreciation for what we have. Our natural resources allow us to live in these perfect little micro-climates, each with their own cultural dialects and norms. We are all at risk. Not only due to global climate change, but due to a societal shift away from the importance of community. It doesn’t matter if you live in a grass hut village along the banks of the Mekong, or in Mexican town in Detroit. We all thrive on our communities, and we need to work a little harder to preserve not only our own, but everyone else’s too.