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>Dear Colleagues, Following Peter's contribution of the UN General Assembly's resolution relating to possible sea-level rises.I wrote to Peter about the General Assembly resolution, drawing his attention to some detailed studies of sea-level change related to island groups. On reflection I thought some other members might be interested in this question. > >>Dear Peter, > > >When I wrote to the top tide man in Australia, asking for >information about rising sea-levels in the vicinity of Broome, I >received no reply. I resent the letter, in case the first one went >astray, still no answer. > >I enquired because Broome has a very, very shallow gradient and I >thought there would be evidence there of Australia's lowest >astronomic tide moving landwards, causing the outer limit of the 12 >nm territorial sea to move landwards. > > > >According to a paper by Alex Morner (2007), a detailed study by >members of INQUA, who study the quaternary period, recorded >sea-level rise in the Maldives from 1850-1940 at a rate of 1.1 mm >per year. For the last 40 years there has not been any sign of >accelerating sea-level in the Maldives. > >Morner reports that the Tuvalu tide guage shows no accelerating tidal rises. > >He also reports that no significant rise has been reported for >Vanuatu in the period 1993-2006. > >Willis Eschenbach has produced a very detailed analysis of possible >tidal changes in Tuvalu. His conclusion is that sea-level is not >accelerating. > > I can provide Eschenbach's e-mail address to those who might be interested. > >Sincerely, > >Victor > >>Dear colleagues, >> >>Apropos of our earlier discussions on sovereignty in the face of >>predicted rising tides, shrinking territories, and population >>exodus from some low-lying areas, this morning the UN General >>Assembly passed by consensus a resolution on "Climate change and >>its possible security implications" (A/RES/63/281). The resolution >>was concerned with the possible security implications of climate >>change (such as refugee flows and loss of territorial integrity) >>and strongly suggested that the Security Council take up the issue >>as part of its mandate for maintaining international peace and >>security. The resolution was advocated in particular by many >>Pacific small island countries, but the ultimate consensus was >>forged among a broad swath of developing and developed countries >>and had more than 60 co-sponsors. >> >>Reuters article about the General Assembly action: >>http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE5525W920090603 >> >>New York Times article about the resolution: >>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/world/29refugees.html >> >>Regards, >> >>Peter Prows