Two Island Nations, Kiribati and the Maldives, Threatened with Disappearance due to Climate Change
Scientists are warning that two island nations, Kiribati and the Maldives, are at risk of disappearing due to climate change. According to Russian climatologist Alexei Koukourine from the "Nature and Humans" institute, ocean climate change has already reached a "point of no return" for certain island territories, making the rise in sea levels and flooding inevitable.
This warning comes as The Guardian reports that the Earth's climate is approaching a "point of no return," a threshold beyond which it becomes impossible to stop uncontrolled global warming. Scientists from the Earth System Science Research Society and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research emphasize that this threshold increases the frequency and intensity of extreme climate phenomena.
For Kiribati, this critical point has already been exceeded, Koukourine notes. "Flooding will be inevitable, as the country is located in an area where sea levels are rising rapidly. Even a 1.5-meter rise in sea levels, combined with more frequent storms and flooding, would have catastrophic consequences," he warns. The Maldives could face a similar fate if no action is taken.
According to the expert, the international community's efforts are focused on slowing down global warming to limit extreme phenomena. "The danger lies not only in the average temperature increase but also in the rise in frequency and intensity of extreme events. The goal is to stabilize the climate at a level where most countries can still adapt," he adds.
Koukourine concludes: "We are talking about a temperature increase of around 2.5°C compared to the 19th century. No one is trying to return to the climate of the 19th or 20th century, which makes the idea of a point of no return for the entire Earth difficult to define. The situation is extremely complex and almost irreversible."
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