|
A 42-foot traditional Tongan boat is seen near the tiny
island states of Tonga and Kiribati in the Western
Pacific. |
Rising seas have forced 100 people on a Pacific island to move to
higher ground in what may be the first example of a village formally
displaced because of modern global warming, a U.N. report said on Monday.
With coconut palms on the coast already standing in water, inhabitants
in the Lateu settlement on Tegua island in Vanuatu started dismantling
their wooden homes in August and moved about 600 yards (meters) inland.
"They could no longer live on the coast," Taito Nakalevu, a climate
change expert at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment
Programme, said during a 189-nation conference in Montreal on ways to
fight climate change.
So-called "king tides," often whipped up by cyclones, had become
stronger in recent years and made Lateu uninhabitable by flooding the
village 4 to 5 times a year. "We are seeing king tides across the region
flooding islands," he said.
The U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a statement that the
Lateu settlement "has become one of, if not the first, to be formally
moved out of harm's way as a result of climate change."
The scientific panel that advises the United Nations projects that seas
could rise by almost 3 feet (a meter) by 2100 because of melting icecaps
and warming linked to a build-up of heat-trapping gases emitted by burning
fossil fuels in power plants, factories and autos.
Many other coastal communities are vulnerable to rising seas, such as
the U.S. city of New Orleans, the Italian city of Venice or settlements in
the Arctic where a thawing of sea ice has exposed coasts to erosion by the
waves.
Pacific Islanders, many living on coral atolls, are among those most at
risk. Off Papua New Guinea, about 2,000 people on the Cantaret Islands are
planning to move to nearby Bougainville island, four hours' boat ride to
the southwest.
Two uninhabited Kiribati islands, Tebua Tarawa and Abanuea, disappeared
underwater in 1999.
"In Tegua, the dwellings are moving first. The chief has moved, he has
to start the process, so his people are now following," Nakalevu said. A
church would also be dismantled and moved inland.
Nakalevu said the rising seas seemed linked to climate change. It was
unknown if the coral base of the island, about 12 square miles, might be
subsiding. Most villagers rely on yams, beans and other crops grown on
higher ground.
|
K�K�һK�K�K^�K�һKݱ�K�ƣK�K�ՊK�治�K�K�K�K̫ƽ�Kһ�K�K�K�ϵK?00K�K�KԌK�wK�K�KƸ�KߵĵPȥK�K�K�K�Keȫ�K�K�K�ůK�K�Kqĵ�һK�K�ʽ"wK�"Kq|K�
K�ŬK�DK�K�K(ji)�Kؿ�K�K�K_(d)K�Kӽ�K�8KqPK�ͿKg|K�ľK÷Kݣ�K�K�wK�600KA�K�ԭK�K�K�K(ji)ͿKߵ�K�K�K�ѾK�K�Kˮ�K�ˡK?
̫ƽK�K�K�K�K�OK�K�¦�K�K�wK�̩DK�KU�K�K�K�K�K�K�K�K�KǨ�K�K�K˵�K?K�KԌK|K�K�K�K�Kغ�K�K�Kˡ�"K�K�189K�K�K҅|K�K�λK�?
K�ZPK�K�K?K�K�K�"K�K�K�K�KԽ�KԽ�K�bKC�K�K�K�մK�K�K�K�κK�K�K�մK�ѾK�K�K�ʺϾKA�K�ɿK�K˵�K?K�Kǿ�K�'K�K�K�'K�K�K�K�?jng)]K�K"
K�K^�K�K�K愝K�K�һK�K�K�K�KY(ji)K�K�K_(d)"K�K�K�qKһ�K�KԌK�K�K�K�ůK�K�K�ʽwKƵ_(d)f֮һK�"
K�W(xu)K�A(y)KK�2001KK�K(ji)�ѩK(ji)�K�ȫK�K_�K�Kƽ�K�Kܻ�K�K�K�1KA�K�K�K�Kվ�K�K�K�sK�K�K�K�K�K�K�K�WZK�K�K�K�岻�K�K�K�Kֱ�ӹK^�K?
K�KкӞK�K�Ke�K߾�סK�K�Kܵ�K�ˮK�K�K�K�{K�K�K磬K�K�K�KqWӞK�Kǣ�K�K�K�K�K�K˹�K�sK�K�K�KһЩ�KA�K�K�K�ՊK�K�K�՟K�K�K�K�KqӞK�K�K�K�K�ܵK�K�K�Kg_(d)K?
̫ƽK�K�K^ľ�K�KкӞסK�ɺK�K�K�K^�K�K�K�Kٵ�ΣK�K�K�Ke�KԌK�Kq|K�K�K忰K�K�Kص�K^�s2000K�K�K�K�KK_ͿK�K�K�KeԌK�SK�K�K�K�K�K�K�K�ϲK�˴K�K?K�Сr(sh)K�
K�K�K˹�K�K�K�K�K�f(shu)K�زK�K�K�K�ߺͰK�K�K�K�K?999K걻K�ˮK�?jng)]K�KѾ�K�ʧKˡ�
K�KPf(shu)K�"Kؿ�K�Ke�K�K�K�ҪK�uK�K�K�ѾK�K�K�ˣK�K�K�K�K�K�Kһ�K�Kߡ�"K�K�Kһ�K�K�KԌK�K�KǨ�K�Kq�K?
K�KPf(shu)K�"K�ƽK�IJK�K�K�K�K�K�K�K仯K�K�ġK�K�ԑK�ϵK?2ƽK�K�K�ɺK�K�K�KPK�K�KeͿK�K֪�K�K�K�Ke_(d)K�K�K�K�KҪ�ԳK�K��K�ӺK�K�ԑK�ƽ(x)ߵK�K�KһЩ�K�K�ĹK�KI�K�K?
(Kй�Kձ�K�վK�K�) |