Bangladesh climate refugees search for higher ground

This is not happening in the near distant future. This is happening now. Where is the world community?

From the article:

In the mountainous village of Hoaikong in southeastern Bangladesh, villagers are used to welcoming new residents on a weekly basis. The once-sparsely populated jungle, home to only a handful of tribal families, houses some 2,000 people who have sought higher ground as the island where they once lived becomes increasingly submerged by the sea.

Ex-fisherman Jaber Ahmed, who has turned his hand to farming crops in his new environment, says there are two camps of thought among islanders as to why they have had to migrate inland.

"Some of us think that the land is sinking. Others say the sea is rising, the 55-year-old says. To be honest, I have no idea. All I know is we had to move our homes to survive.

Ahmed moved from the island 10 years ago and has watched as former neighbours follow his lead.

I was one of the first here when my home on the edge of the island disappeared. Slowly more followed. Now it-s happening more and more and our old island is disappearing under the sea.

Ahmed-s story is a familiar tale on Bangladesh-s southern coast, where locals and climate experts say islands at the country-s edge as well as its coastline on the Bay of Bengal are shrinking.

Although the villagers say they do not know the exact cause of the problem, experts are more sure.

Scientists -- including those from the United Nations Inter-government Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- say the number of climate refugees will increase in Bangladesh in the coming years as rising sea levels devour low-lying coastal areas of the delta country.

The plight of people like Jaber Ahmed is at the top of the agenda for a Bangladeshi delegation representing the impoverished nation during climate change talks from December 1-12 in Poznan, Poland.

Professor Atiq Rahman, a highly acclaimed Bangladeshi climate specialist, is among those attending the summit.

He says richer nations will be forced to open their countries up to climate refugees as land becomes scarce in the densely populated nation.

Bangladeshis are already being displaced because of climate change. It-s not happening in the distant future. It-s happening now, he says.

Being displaced is just one of the problems of rising sea levels. People will lose their livelihoods, food security will be under threat and so will water security.

Impoverished Bangladesh, says Rahman, is one of the lowest emitters of harmful carbon dioxide, but is one of the worst affected by the effects of climate change.