Three months after Cyclone Aila caused widespread tragedy, 300,000 Bangladeshis are still homeless. Many communities remain inundated from embankments that were breached in the storm, with lands and trees poisoned by salt water and structures that cannot be repaired for months until the waters recede.

Oxfam’s Head of Research Duncan Green says climate change-induced rising sea levels are the main cause of the crisis, along with salt water’s continued infiltration through weakened embankments.

One local non-governmental organization leader said, “If we can’t build good embankments, this area will be sea. People will have to migrate.”Leaders of endangered nations such as the island nation of Tuvalu are calling for action to mitigate these devastating tolls of global warming.

Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia, Tuvalu (M):Decisions have to be made now because the impact of the greenhouse emissions from their various countries are slowly killing our people back in Tuvalu, including other small low lying atolls.…we want to live in our country and we do not want to be environmental refugees, to be relocated to other countries.

VOICE: Our appreciation, Prime Minister Ielemia, Mr. Green, Oxfam and all other concerned parties for your work to raise awareness of the extent of the human impact caused by global warming.

Let us unite in adopting caring, sustainable lifestyles to restore the balance of our ecosphere. As the leaders of such vulnerable countries strive to secure a future existence for their fellow citizens, hope can be found in a fast solution as explained by Supreme Master Ching Hai in a June 2009 Vegan Earth Day video message in California, USA.


Reference
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/220803/ec59ad751acee32270df84fdfc673857.htm
http://www.oxfam.org/en/fp2p/duncan-green-profile