Fantastic stories could one day be told about the Bahamas, famous islands lost under the sea like the legendary Atlantis. The rise in sea level caused by climate change will be an existential threat to the coral archipelago, which is at risk of being submerged. The alarm was given by Christina Gerhardt, an academic, author and environmental journalist, who in her latest book talks about the devastating effects of climate change on these islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
Comprising more than 700 islands (30 of which are inhabited) and more than 2,000 islets, the archipelago is also known as the “Lucaian Islands” after the region’s first indigenous Lucanian people, a branch of the Taíno people. Inhabit most of the Caribbean islands. The denomination would derive specifically from Taíno ba ha ma (“great central land”) or the later Spanish baha mar (“shallow sea”), which describes the shallow waters around the islands.
As reported by The Guardian, there are three reasons why the Bahamas in the Caribbean are the islands most at risk from rising global temperatures. First of all, most of them are located several meters above the water level, which makes it easy to flood. The highest point, Mount Alvernia, is actually only 64 meters high.
The other problem concerns their composition. The islands are made of limestone, an extremely permeable and porous material that acts a bit like a sponge and absorbs salt water. As a result, when sea level rises, the islands will not only risk being flooded by this disproportionate growth, but will also be “absorbed” by the subsoil, as water will pass through the ground thanks to the limestone.
It is no accident that even near Florida, a largely calcareous region (only 80-100 kilometers from the archipelago), it has experienced various flooding events such as those of the Everglades (a marshy region in the far south). US state) and Miami. Finally, high population density along the coast is also a relevant factor, according to Gherardt. The majority of the population (83%) reside in urban environments and 75% live on Providence Island, which is the main island and home to the capital city, Nassau.
According to a report by Climate Central on the impact of the phenomenon in the Caribbean, “The Bahamas faces by far the largest proportional threat: 32% of the land area and 25% of the population are below 0.5 meters”. The archipelago’s sea level is expected to rise 32 centimeters by 2050 and 82 centimeters by 2100.
But this is not the only danger. Because this region of hundreds of islands is located at the northern tip of the so-called “hurricane zone” of the Atlantic, it is a high-risk area for hurricanes and tropical storms.
As for the economic impact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Fifth Assessment Report on the effects of sea-level rise measured in terms of GDP revealed that alongside the Pacific islands (particularly Palau, Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Nauru) the island group will certainly be most affected. It is the Bahamas.
In 2020, rating agency Moody’s predicted that the Commonwealth of Bahamas, with an estimated 11% of its residents and 15% of its GDP at risk, will be one of the countries most financially affected by climate change. He also found that with a 1 meter rise in sea level, 12% of the total land mass would be at risk of being submerged. It is estimated that if global temperatures increase by 3°C, about 67% of the population will be affected.
Already in September 2019, Category 5 Atlantic hurricane Dorian struck the Abaco Islands (in the northern Bahamas), causing significant damage and causing numerous deaths and injuries for damages estimated at approximately $3.4 billion. “We are in the midst of one of the biggest national crises in our country’s history,” said Hubert Minnis, then Prime Minister of the Bahamas.
Source: Today IT

Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.