While the Sun Come Up documentary plays in New York, sharing the story of climate refugees in the South Pacific, attention is also being focused on the threat to Bangladesh. If that seems far away, take note that experts warn the disruption from global warming could have planet-wide implications. This is particularly significant now, while international talks on addressing global warming sputter and stall.
Diane McFadzien, the World Wildife Fund’s South Pacific regional climate change coordinator, recently said, “Communities all over the Pacific are alarmed at coastal erosion and the advancing sea levels. We are already seeing signs of whole villages having to relocate, or important cultural sites such as burial grounds in Fiji being eroded.”
Experts are also looking at what might happen if Bangladesh faces rising waters. U.S. security and military analysts fear that if Bangladesh sees rising floods, it could be a significant threat to global security. As warming temperatures deplete water supplies and alter land use, military analysts warn, already vulnerable communities in Asia and Africa could descend into conflicts and even wars as more people clamor for increasingly scarce resources.
