When it might be getting the media attention, New Moore Island is just one of dozens that are sinking to the sea. Both India and Bangladesh have made claim to New Moore Island, which is situated between the two countries. Though residents have taken a short term loan of living space on other shores, the issue promises to only get worse. The brouhaha over New Moore Island is bringing media attention to the increasing sea claiming more land then every before.
The two lives of New Moore Island
New Moore Island is a relatively small piece of disputed land – less than 3 square miles. India claims that New Moore Island falls within their maritime borders, and therefore is Indian. On the other hand, Bangledesh also claims what they call South Talpatti. New Moore Island has never been residence to any permanent settlements. The Bhola cyclone in 1970 actually revealed New Moore Island / South Talpatti, which is what started the conflict. India had at one point established a base on South Talpatti / New Moore Island, but international opinion was split on the issue.
New Moore Island / South Talpatti disappears into rising sea
As reported by the BBC, the School of Oceanographic Studies in Calcutta has officially found New Moore Island to be submerged by sea water. Local fishermen have confirmed the reports that New Moore Island is no more. Before 2000, average yearly sea level rose at about 3mm per year, but in the last decade that has gone up to 5mm per year. Where New Moore Island sits, in the Sundarban Island Chain, sea levels are rising at the rate of 3.14 centimeters a year. Four islands of the Sundarban chain sunk before New Moore Island.
Other island nations at risk
Islands are at risk of sinking outside of the Sundarban chain. The Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, has been losing land mass to the sea for years. Top elevation on the Maldives is only 8 feet above sea level, so even a high tide can wreak havoc. The Maldives government has been building Hulhumale, a fabricated island nearby, for residents to evacuate to if needs be. Between Hawaii and Australia, Tuvalu is also quickly losing ground. Tuvalu has 11,000 residents, and experts estimate the island will be entirely engulfed by the sea in as little as 50 years. A few residents of Tuvalu – 75, to be exact – can use military personal loans to move to New Zealand. Like New Moore Island, Tonga, Kirbati, and the Marshall Islands are all at risk of sinking to the sea.
How to curb the sinking?
Ultimately, there can be no definitive way to measure the cause or effect of islands ending up in the ocean. Sea levels rise and fall regularly, and island land masses can also rise and sink on their own. Natural climate fluctuations or global climate change – the reason for rising sea levels is even debatable. No matter who or what is to blame, though, island nations that are sinking are being forced to find solutions – because there is not yet a way to simply stop the rise and fall of an island in the ocean.
