Mother Nature send both parties an n-mail (nature-mail). "It's *mine*, suckers!"
On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 2:34 PM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net>wrote: > > > Disputed isle in Bay of Bengal disappears into sea > By NIRMALA GEORGE, Associated Press Writer Nirmala George, Associated > Press Writer – Wed Mar 24, 9:29 am ET > > NEW DELHI – For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over > control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels > have resolved the dispute for them: the island's gone. > > New Moore Island in the Sunderbans has been completely submerged, said > oceanographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. > Its disappearance has been confirmed by satellite imagery and sea patrols, > he said. > > "What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been > resolved by global warming," said Hazra. > > Scientists at the School of Oceanographic Studies at the university have > noted an alarming increase in the rate at which sea levels have risen over > the past decade in the Bay of Bengal. > > Until 2000, the sea levels rose about 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) a year, > but over the last decade they have been rising about 5 millimeters (0.2 > inches) annually, he said. > > Another nearby island, Lohachara, was submerged in 1996, forcing its > inhabitants to move to the mainland, while almost half the land of Ghoramara > island was underwater, he said. At least 10 other islands in the area were > at risk as well, Hazra said. > > "We will have ever larger numbers of people displaced from the Sunderbans > as more island areas come under water," he said. > > Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 150 million people, is one of the > countries worst-affected by global warming. Officials estimate 18 percent of > Bangladesh's coastal area will be underwater and 20 million people will be > displaced if sea levels rise 1 meter (3.3 feet) by 2050 as projected by some > climate models. > > India and Bangladesh both claimed the empty New Moore Island, which is > about 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) long and 3 kilometers (1.5 miles) wide. > Bangladesh referred to the island as South Talpatti. > > There were no permanent structures on New Moore, but India sent some > paramilitary soldiers to its rocky shores in 1981 to hoist its national > flag. > > The demarcation of the maritime boundary — and who controls the remaining > islands — remains an open issue between the two South Asian neighbors, > despite the disappearance of New Moore, said an official in India's foreign > ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized > to speak on international disputes. > > Bangladesh officials were not available for comment Wednesday. > >
