Disappearing Places: Impacts of Rising Seas & Climate Change on Small Island States
Open Access
Author:
Murphy, McQuillin Douglas
Area of Honors:
Geography
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Roger Michael Downs, Thesis Supervisor Roger Michael Downs, Thesis Honors Advisor Deryck William Holdsworth, Faculty Reader
Keywords:
Small island states atoll sea level rise climate change maldives kiribati climate refugees island international politics geography
Abstract:
This thesis examines the reactions of small island states to the effects of climate change. Rising sea levels threaten to render many low-lying coastal environments uninhabitable and may even submerge entire states. Those states will have their population, society, and sovereignty jeopardized. The strategies by which states respond to the existential threat posed by rising seas fall into two overarching courses of action: adaptation and abandonment. This thesis profiles the responses of two states, the Maldives and Kiribati, to the threats posed by climate change. The Maldives uses primarily adaptation strategies and Kiribati uses primarily abandonment strategies. Small island states are some of the first places to be fundamentally changed by climate change, but certainly will not be the last. Understanding the reactions of those places, as well as the looming crises of sovereignty and human rights created by the submergence of states, is critical for the international community.
