Arka Dutta

The earth is getting hotter - the ice in the in the poles is melting and the water expanding. The sea level is rising. Water is increasing its territory – vulnerable lands are getting submerged, levees are getting eroded, habitats are disappearing, settlers are becoming refugees. This is happening everywhere, this is happening near my home. It is not long before this will affect me, it is not long before this will affect all.

100 km south of the city of Kolkata, India, the Mousuni Island at Gangetic delta stands quite vulnerable. It is disappearing, eroding with each passing tide. The immediate effect of sea level rise is tidal flooding and the banks of the island are getting wasted by these tidal floods – the magnitude of which is increasing with time. Homes have disappeared, lands are getting overwhelmed by the encroaching mass of water at a steady rate and people are staring at a bleak future where the probability of them becoming climate refugees looms large. The scenes at the island stand testament to the growing threat of global warming.