Cross-posted by Daniel Cressey on The Great Beyond

A simmering row between India and Bangladesh has been cooled down by global warming.

The two countries were at loggerheads over a pile of mud in the Bay of Bengal, called New Moore Island by India and South Talpatti by Bangladesh. Both claimed the island after it appeared in the 1970s.

Now rising sea levels have calmed the waters, and the island has vanished.“There’s no trace of the island anymore. After studying satellite images, I confirmed this from fishermen,” says Sugata Hazra, of the School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University in Kolkata (AFP). “Climate change has obliterated the source of dispute.”

Erosion is also likely to be partly responsible for solving the diplomatic problem. “The Indian government had once sent ships with guns to guard the island. Now one will have to think of sending submarines to mount a vigil there,” says Hazra (Sydney Morning Herald).

Hazra adds that more islands in the Sundarbans delta will also be claimed by the sea. “We will have ever larger numbers of people displaced from the Sunderbans as more island areas come under water,” he says (BBC)

Image: Wikipedia