Pacific islands could be engulfed by global warming

(Photo of Tuvalu from Flickr and photographer Jay)

News Update 2: Pacific island states, meeting at a forum, said the region should negotiate for international assistance for damage already done by climate change. Rising seas levels and severe cyclones already are causing people along the coast to relocate in 4 of the states – Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Cantaret Islands in Papua New Guinea. In Kiribati, two uninhabited islands disappeared under the sea in 1999. “The evidence is quite clear that climate change is already wreaking havoc here,” said Pacific Island Forum Chair Toke Talagi, who is also premier of Niue, where the forum was held. The islands will ask the UN Security Council next week to address climate change as a threat to international peace and security. The international organization Avaaz is collecting signatures on a petition to support their request. (Sources: ClimateWire, Independent Online), Aavaz)