The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin
There are many such articles on the Net mantra, funny you didn't mention them.Tuvalu PM says Pacific Island Nations Sinking, Science Shows They Aren't
Written by Thomas Richard, CCD Editor on 15 August 2014.
Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga of the supposedly sinking Pacific island nations is at it again, this time taking a page out of John "global warming is a weapon of mass destruction" Kerry's handbook of hysteria in his attempts to rabble rouse a "deal." From Rappler (bold added):
"We are caught in the middle, effectively, in Tuvalu. We are very, very worried," Sopoaga told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"We are already suffering. It's already like a weapon of mass destruction and the indications are all there... we only need to garner strong collective leadership to address this.
"The people of Tuvalu are going to underscore again (in New York) the message that we are dying."
Tuvalu, a scattering of nine coral atolls that is home to about 11,000 people, is one of several Pacific nations threatened by rising seas blamed on global warming.
Many are barely one meter (three feet) above sea level and scientists warn that nations such as Tuvalu, Kiribati and Tokelau could disappear beneath the waves if climate change continues unabated.
Sounds dire. But a pesky thing called observable science keeps getting in the way of the the island nations actually sinking. From Australian Broadcast News:
Climate scientists have expressed surprise at findings that many low-lying Pacific islands are growing, not sinking.
Islands in Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia are among those which have grown, largely due to coral debris, land reclamation and sediment.
The findings, published in the magazine New Scientist, were gathered by comparing changes to 27 Pacific islands over the last 20 to 60 years using historical aerial photos and satellite images.
Auckland University's Associate Professor Paul Kench, a member of the team of scientists, says the results challenge the view that Pacific islands are sinking due to rising sea levels associated with climate change.
"Eighty per cent of the islands we've looked at have either remained about the same or, in fact, gotten larger," he said.
"Some of those islands have gotten dramatically larger, by 20 or 30 per cent.
"We've now got evidence the physical foundations of these islands will still be there in 100 years."
Dr Kench says the growth of the islands can keep pace with rising sea levels.
So is there any hope? Will the islands go under as prophesied by Sopoaga? According to Dr Kench:
"The reason for this is these islands are so low lying that in extreme events waves crash straight over the top of them," he said.
"In doing that they transport sediment from the beach or adjacent reef platform and they throw it onto the top of the island."
The same holds true for the nation of Maldives, a cluster of low-lying islands in the Indian Ocean–Arabian Sea. The recently ousted president, Mohammed Waheed Dean, admitted the sinking island nation wasn't actually sinking to allay investors' fears:
"First of all, I want give you a bit of good news. The good news is that the Maldives is not about to disappear," President Waheed said countering the claims by his predecessor that the Maldives would be be completely submerged in the near future.
He added that foreign investors were concerned with the talks of a submerged Maldives.
His tactful honesty might be the reason he didn't win reelection as he didn't have his hand out, instead relying on his country's potential for growth and tourism.