Shanghai Jiaotong University January 2010 CPSIS Letter Now Available

The January 2010 edition of CPSIS Letter by Shanghai Center for RimPac Strategic and International Studies (CPSIS) and Center for RimPac Studies at Shanghai Jiaotong University (CPSSJTU) is now available. It features writings by Center experts on U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and reflections on climate change negotiations.

Read it here.

Posted by Matthew Shannon Stumpf on February 1, 2010. Respond »

The Maldives: “Wet” Side of Life

The Maldives, the Island nation in the Indian Ocean, known to the world as islands with abundant ‘Sun, Sand and Sea.’ However there is more to the Maldives than just 3 ‘S’. The fear of being submerged due to rise in sea level in future brings the whole country together these days since the present President Mohamed Nasheed made an announcement for new homeland for Maldivians late last year (Nov 2008). The country is planning to purchase lands in India, Sri Lanka, and in the distant Australia, due to the high possibility of inundation in the coming years.

Nasheed said it in clear terms:

We can do nothing to stop climate change on our own and so we have to buy land elsewhere. It’s an insurance policy for the worst possible outcome. We do not want to leave the Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate refugees living in tents for decades.(The Guardian (UK), Nov 10, 2008)

And for this reason, to send a strong message softly to the world community, especially to the so called affluent countries ahead of the December 2009 Climate meeting in Copenhagen, the political elites of Maldives have made a big point this Saturday by convening a ‘submerged’ cabinet meeting under the sea, just to highlight the looming threat of global warming and climate change.

The fear is not at all unfounded and going under water is not a tourism publicity stunt either. Some parts of Maldives are just 1.5 meters above water. And a small rise of the sea level could make things worse for Maldives.

Stefan Rahmstorf, an expert at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, expects a 1-meter rise in this century and up to 5 meters over the next 300 years. He observes that sea level continues to rise faster than expected with no sign of slowing down. Research presented in March this year at the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen shows that the upper range of sea level rise by 2100 could be in the range of about one meter, or possibly more. The UN has also forecasted that the ocean will rise by up to 2 feet by 2100.

This fear is not for Maldives alone. Global cities like Shanghai, London, Miami, New York, Mumbai, Cairo, Amsterdam and Tokyo, all threatened by rising sea levels.

All eyes are now on the forthcoming October 24th global day of action when the whole country will hold underwater political demonstration.

Read what is at stake:

“Maldives makes history in holding first under-sea cabinet meeting”, Miadhu News, Sunday, October 18th, 2009.

“Climate change requires a real movement”, Minivan News, Sept 22, 2009.

Read a nice and balanced scientific analysis on the sea level rise here: Stefan Rahmstorf and Martin Vermeer, “Ups and downs of sea level projections” (Aug 31, 2009).

Posted by Animesh Roul on October 19, 2009. Respond »