Experts Warn of Climate Refugee Crises

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.

The Pentagon has stated that they consider climate change to be a national security risk, and the term "climate wars" is even being brought into the regular discourse.  The Pentagon has even developed situation rooms for Haiti and other environmental disasters. Therefore, this IS being talked about at the highest levels of office in the United States.

According to Isabel Hilton, an environmental commentator whose London-based nonprofit promotes climate change forums and seminars throughout China and other parts of Asia, "Bangladesh is a country that could provide more climate refugees than anywhere else on Earth."

--This is a guest post by Seth Leitman, who blogs at Green Living Guy and is editor of the TAB Green Guru Guides, which include:

1.Green Lighting by Brian Clark Howard, William J. Brinsky and Seth Leitman
2. Solar Power For Your Home by David Findley
3. Renewable Energies For Your Home by Russell Gehrke
4. Do-It-Yourself Home Energy Audits by David Findley
5. Build Your Own Electric Vehicle by Seth Leitman and Bob Brant
6. Build Your Own Electric Motorcycle by Carl Vogel
7. Build Your Own Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle by Seth Leitman
8. Geothermal HVAC

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