The tiny spot of rock known as New Moore Island in the Bay of Bengal has disappeared into the sea. Rising sea levels attributed to global warming have swamped the island.
Both India and Bangladesh claimed possession of the rock. Now, according to this news report, the claims are moot.
So - should it now be called “No More Island”? :dubious::D:cool:
No, I think it’s called Leshp.
ETA: Some Googling reveals that this island popped up out of nowhere in the 1970’s, and both nations immediately claimed it despite it being an empty piece of rock with no real usefulness. Because, ya know, it was there, we’d better grab it up before They do.
At this point I’m half-expecting Captain Carrot to start a football game.
One never knows when a spare island might come in handy. Penal colony, leper colony, lair for evil genius, guano mine…
Claiming the island might help with claims to the sea-bed surrounding it, and could also extend the economic zones recognized by international law. Can see why both countries wanted it.
How far did it ever extend from the sea?
Did global cooling in the 70’s cause it to appear?
It was a cyclone. Now that Wikipedia is backup, you can see the whole history of the late island.
110,000 sq ft is almost enough room for a Wal Mart store.
A cyclone caused the water level to lower enough to expose the land mass?
More likely it moved the silt, mud and sand around enough for it to stay above high tide.
Further surveying shows it to actually be a gigantic severed testicle.
Any of you studs out there lose something?
Blaming this on rising sea levels is utterly ridiculous. The shoreline of the Bay of Bengal consists of shifting sandbars which change position from year to year, and disappear and reappear - as happened with Lohachara and Ghoramara.
If this island has only been around for 30 years or so, then according to the estimates of sea level rise, the level has increased by about 10cm (4 inches) in this time. Unless it was a ridiculously low island which was continually awash, it has not been submerged by rising sea levels.
Could this have something to do with the Dharma Initiative?
I heard about this. Didn’t Leonard of Quirm do some sketches there a few years ago?
Discover’s article about this at http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/03/25/tiny-island-fought-over-by-india-bangladesh-vanishes-into-the-sea/
The oceanographer who discovered this loss balmes it primarily on rising sea levels. The article also explains why the island was so desirable to claim.
Read the comments to that article. The readers make the same point that Colophon does. Plus, they offer another explanation: it could be as simple as the soil settling. The island was basically a big lump of fill dirt; it was to be expected that the soil would compact over time. Plus, the article says that erosion was a major factor in the loss of the island.
Sorry, but the oceanographer is an idiot. Of the three causes mentioned (global warming, erosion, and soil settling) global warming is easily the least significant factor. Erosion is probably the primary cause, with settling being a secondary factor.
I’m more concerned about the island’s hideous monolith-crowned citadel.
Well, according to the wikipedia article, the island’s elevation “had never exceeded two meters above sea level”, so it’s really not impossible that rising sea levels had a lot to do with its submersion. Seriously guys, it wasn’t that hard to look up that it was indeed a “ridiculously low island” before you start calling the guy an idiot…
Perhaps the sea-level rise was only in the region of ocean near the island.
I know from my global warming research we should not confuse what happens locally with global averages.