Map From 1950s Showing Lahachara Island Before It Sunk
Photo Source: Public Domain

Climate change is getting more and more obvious. There are still those that wonder how temperatures can be so cold in some areas in the winter, if we are experiencing global warming. They don't realize that it is the average temperature for the entire planet that is going up and this may not include specific areas on the planet in winter season. The ice in the North Pole is melting at an alarming rate and the sea is rising and yet there are those that refuse to believe this. There are even some places that have experienced rising waters, such as islands, where the populations have had to be removed. Lohachara and Suparibhanga Islands had a population of over 10,000 people. They were located in the Bay of Bengal and have disappeared due to global warming. Bermeja Island which was in the Gulf of Mexico has also disappeared.

There are a lot of island nations facing eradication by the ocean due to global warming, here are some of them:

Carteret Islands. They are also known as the Carteret Atoll, Tulun Islands, or Kilinailsu Islands. These islands are in the South Pacific and are expected to totally submerged by 2015 due to global warming. The population is about 1,000.

Maldives. The Maldives are an island nation located in the Indian Ocean. The highest point is now only 8 feet about the sea and this nation is expected to disappear in the near future due to global warming. The last census listed the population at 396,334 people.

Republic of Vanuatu, also known as Vanuatu Island is located in the South Pacific. It has a population of about 243,304 and may soon wind up in Davy Jones' locker, if the ocean continues to get higher.

Tuvalu Islands. They are located between Australia and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. They have a population of about 11,000 people, but their highest point is now only 15 feet about the sea. The evacuation has already started and it is assumed that if things keep going the way they are now, the islands will be completely gone in about 50 years.

Republic of Kirbati. It is also know as Kirbati Island and is located in the Pacific Ocean. The Republic has a population of almost 100,000 and the water is rising fast.

Marshall Islands. They are located in the Pacific Ocean and have a population of about 70,000. Like the Republic of Kirbati, the water is rising fast and it may be only a matter of time before they disappear.

Kingdom of Tonga. It is also known as Tonga Island. It has a population of about 104,000 people and is located in the South Pacific Ocean. More of the island is becoming covered by the ocean every day and time is against it.

The island nations that I have listed are only a few of the islands that are in trouble because of climate change. To the people of these areas, global warming is no longer just a theory, but is causing them to lose their homes.

Earth Spinning On Its Axis
Attribution I, Dennis Nilsson
Graphic Source: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported

There is a theory that states as more ice melts at the north pole or arctic and ice increases at the south pole or antarctic, there will be a point where the Earth will flip because of the difference in weight of the ice. Why would anyone think that this might happen? Perhaps they believe this because some scientists claim that they have found evidence that the Earth has flipped in the past. It wouldn't be a complete flip they say, but it would cause the Earth to spin on its side, forcing Alaska to sit at the equator. The evidence was presented by scientists from Princeton University.

Scientists analyzed the magnetic composition of ancient sediments that were found in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. They claim that it proves that a 140 year old theory that the Earth might restore its balance this way if unequal distribution of weight ever developed.

Does the weight distribution of the Earth change from time to time and is it enough to flip our planet? It seems to me that it could be likely. If we were to take a spinning top and put more weight on one side than the other it would eventually flop over onto the side with the most weight, why would things be any different for the Earth? True there are a lot more things to consider with the Earth, such as the fact that the spin is pretty constant and out top is always slowing down. Then there is the matter of attraction by other masses such as the Sun and planets, but all in all it does seem possible that global warming might be able to change the balance of the Earth enough that it might flip. The amount of the flip is not certain, as is the fact that it will happen. All we know at this point is that it could happen.

Like This Article?
Let Others Know.