Coral reef and mangroves acting as the first line of defence against wave action and storm surges.
Much of the island resting only 1.5 metres above sea level.
These are facts about The Maldives, a collection of islands scattered across the Indian Ocean. But these facts aren’t far from the environmental realities of the Cayman Islands, thousands of miles away.
Although a tiny group of flat islands, The Maldives has succeeded in positioning itself in the centre of the Copenhagen Climate Conference. Experts state it faces disaster if climate change isn’t reversed and sea levels rise in worst possible scenario predictions.
In October it grabbed attention from the world by holding a government cabinet meeting at the bottom of a lagoon. Seated at a table submerged five meters underwater, officials in scuba diving gear signed a document calling for leaders to agree global cuts in carbon emissions at Copenhagen this December.
At its highest point, The Maldives are 2.3 metres above sea level. That’s about the same size as Yao Ming, the tallest player in the National Basketball Association.
By the end of the century, not even Yao Ming will be able to stand on the shores of The Maldives with his head above the water. So the government there has made it clear the leaders of the biggest nations of the world need to act now or it will disappear forever.
Like Cayman, most of these nations are too small to contribute much to carbon emissions, but they will be hit the hardest by the effects of the seas swelling and warming. It’s only fair they are attempting to shout the loudest at the climate conference in Copenhagen.
The responsibility of small island states is clear.
There are currently 350 active campaigns across the world by small, flat island nations and seaside communities. They are all urging governments to respond quickly to the fear of rising sea levels.
An interactive map available online uses ground heights and satellite mapping to project how rising sea levels will affect island nations.
At one metre, this map shows that areas around Governor’s Creek and North Side will be underwater. At 3 metres, large parts of Rum Point and areas of West Bay are submerged. At 5 metres, the whole island is covered in large spots of blue shading to indicate water rising above land, except around Bodden Town and areas of Savannah.
At a projected rise of 6 metres, most of the island is submerged.
George Town, Patrick’s Island and Seven Mile Beach are underwater. The most concerned scientific theorists have said the seas will rise to 6m not long after the end of this century. That’s four or five generations of family.
In the past six months, the island has had one of the quietest hurricane periods in history, a brief mercy in part because the most severe weather moved across to the other side of the world.
Hurricanes will return, however, and they will grow more ferocious, strengthened by rising sea levels and warmer waters.
Slightly warm temperatures can kill life in reefs. Scuba divers will have spotted the bleached white coral across the tops of underwater reefs. When the coral dies and turns white, the island loses a major natural defence against wave action and storm surges.
Mangroves hold the soil together and act as a sponge when swells occur, but increased ocean flooding will damage these plants too, by changing the supply of nutrients in the wetlands.
Mangroves also absorb carbon dioxide in the air, and lock it into the peat formed from dead branches and leaves compacted at the bottom of the ocean. As the sea level rises, so does the level of peat at the bottom. More peat means less carbon dioxide in the air. In its own way, nature tries to work against rising temperatures.
When Department of Environment Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie announced the department was creating a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for the Cayman Islands last September, in association with a number of Caribbean climate change associations, it was criticised by a resident in the newspaper as a waste of resources.
The adaptation strategy will investigate how climate change should influence future government policy on coastal setback and building regulations, beach erosion, water treatment facilities and drainage. It would push environmental concerns up the agenda of government.
It would be funded by the UK Department for International Development (DfID) and the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), not the Cayman government. This was confirmed by Ms Ebanks-Petrie.
The resident said the DoE could better use its time to develop a recycling plan and energy policy for the Cayman Islands instead. A home recycling plan is something I attended to in my last commentary piece. Ms Ebanks-Petrie noted the concern, but brushed this off as a matter for the Department of Environmental Health. Responsibility for Mount Trashmore is a difficult one to pin down on a particular government department.
The resident then said it would be a waste of time because the government can’t influence the rate at which global sea surface temperatures and sea levels will rise anyway. On this, the two sides reached agreement.
A single government can’t change sea levels, but all governments of the world working together may be able to.
We should shout loudly in unison with all small island states. The resident is fair to say there are more pressing environmental concerns for the Islands, but any government willing to take an informed approach to the climate situation should be applauded.
Perhaps if the government had held the strategy meeting at the bottom of the sea we’d have received some attention from the world. That is the role our islands and islands like us have to play in the global climate change conference.
Like the islands of The Maldives, we are not the biggest polluter. We don’t export any oil or gas. Our input in the climate change conversation is limited to the damaging effects it will have on the Island.
The effects of rising sea temperatures and sea level will be seen most obviously here, and in places such as Bangladesh, The Bahamas and The Maldives.
China, America and Europe need to hear about these little island nations, which stand to lose everything should sea levels rise a single metre.
The Maldives is taking up its duty with great enthusiasm. We should expect to do the same.
The climate change strategy is a good start from the Department of Environment, but studying beach erosion is a defensive move. We can’t do anything to prevent inevitable changes.
We need to join up with other Caribbean nations and raise our voices in the climate debate.
We need more publicity-seeking stunts like The Maldives. We need to add the Cayman Islands to the list of nations that are asking for a solution within the next century.
If this is a real fear, let’s take action before rising sea levels caused by climate change begin to wash away nations.
First published in Cayman Net News print edition, December 31 2009.
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