In the Indian Sundarbans, the Sea Is Coming
Sagar Island in the Bay of Bengal, population of more than 200,000 and growing, is considered by climate scientists to be a climate change “hotspot” and a glimpse into India’s climate future. More than 20 percent of India’s populations live within 31 miles of the coastline, which is considered the world’s most vulnerable to climate change, where sea-level rise is projected to increase between 1.3-2 feet and temperature increases of 2.6 to 4.8 degrees are expected by 2100. Latest research indicates that this sea level rise could affect three times as many people than previously expected, which could erase Asian megacities like Bangkok and Mumbai. Sagar is already resource depleted and communities are vulnerable with increased demands in a dense state, and expectations are that climate migration will become a necessity, as seen in neighboring Bangladesh, where coastal climate change has driven conflict and mass migration among shrimp farmers to cities. India has already seen some of the highest levels of disaster displacement and latest rankings from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre ranks India at the top for highest new disaster displacements in the first half of 2019. Over the past 25 years, four islands in the Sundarbans have already disappeared with Lohachara, the world’s first inhabited island to disappear, creating India’s first “climate refugees.” (The Diplomat)