Sea levels are rising under the influence of climate change and often those least responsible are hit first. The ancestral inhabitants of the island of Gardi Sugdub in Panama are a glaring example. Their island is sinking, swamped by the waves, forcing the community to head to the mainland.
A total of 1,200 indigenous peoples of the Guna community residing on this Caribbean island are preparing to relocate next year. It’s a first: They will be the first Latin Americans to be evicted by the government over rising waters, The Wall Street Journal reports.
First but not last
Gardi Sugdub Island is one of the 365 islands of the San Blas Archipelago. Although many are uninhabited, about 39 of them were colonized by the Guna more than a century and a half ago. Islands that, like Gardi Sugdub’s, will soon be under water. Many communities are therefore at risk of being affected by this population displacement in the coming years.
“Based on current sea level rise projections, it is almost certain that the Guna will have to start leaving these islands within the next 20 years, and by the end of the century most will likely have to be abandoned,” says Steven Paton, Director of the physical monitoring program at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the American newspaper said.
Overall, the Caribbean is at the forefront of the global climate emergency. Under the pressure of climate change, the low-lying small island coastal states of the Caribbean are particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise, but also to extreme weather events.