Sinking Islands and Wet Deserts

In April this year, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report entitled: "Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability".

The report suggested that "many millions more people were projected to be flooded every year due to sea-level rise by the 2080s".

It also pointed out that large coastal conurbations were the most worrying areas of potential damage, and that "the numbers affected would be largest in the mega-deltas of Asia and Africa, while small islands were especially vulnerable".

Sinking Sundarbans

If the IPCC is to be believed, the Sundarbans are on the verge of sinking into the Bay of Bengal.

The Sunderbans is a sprawling archipelago of several hundred islands stretching nearly 300 kilometres between West Bengal and Bangladesh.

It is part of the world’s largest delta (80,000 km²), formed from sediments deposited by three great rivers: the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna, as they flow into the Bay of Bengal.

Rising sea levels

The IPCC report estimated that sea levels were likely to rise between 22 and 34 centimetres between 1990 and 2080.

Researchers at the School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University in Kolkata have found that the sea level is rising at a rate of 3.14 millimetres annually.

If the government does not introduce concrete steps, within 15 years the sea will lay claim to a dozen islands in the Sunderbans, six of which are populated, rendering about 70,000 people homeless.

The minister of Sunderbans Affairs in the West Bengal Government, Kanti Ganguly has said the government is aware of the situation and is planning to initiate concrete steps to minimise the dangers resulting from increased human population.

Wet desert

At the other extreme, Cherrapunji, the wettest spot on earth according to the Guinness Book of Records, is fast becoming a "wet desert" because of global warming.

Popularly known as Sohra, the rain capital of the world enjoys an annual average rainfall of 10,871 millimetres and is situated around 1,300 metres above sea-level.

However, it is becoming increasingly common to see women and children trekking long distances with a bucket in search of water.

Inevitabilty

Severe deforestation and climate change which has caused an environmental imbalance all over the world lie at the root of the problem.

Although climate change seems inevitable, governments and corporations need to come together to reduce or prevent the potential disastrous consequences on the environment and human beings.

Massive population displacement is but one of the potential problems that needs to be addressed urgently.