An island in Asia disappeared

For nearly 30 years India and Bangladesh have disputed the right to manage a small rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Controversy has not yet reached the end, the island was sunk by the phenomenon of climate change.

Part of Sunderbans mangrove forest.This is the largest mangrove forest in the world.Photo: travelpod.com.

According to the AP, both India and Bangladesh claim New Moore - an uninhabited rock island measuring 3.5 x 3 km in the Sunderbans mangrove forest in the northern Bay of Bengal. The Bangladeshis named the island South Talpatti, and India called it New Moore or Purbasha. India sent a number of soldiers to the island in 1981 to plug the national flag.

Professor Sugata Hazra of Jadavpur University in Calcutta City, India, said New Moore Island was completely submerged under water. Hazra said satellite images and soldiers patrolling at sea also confirmed the disappearance of the island.

'The phenomenon of global warming has solved the problem that the two countries cannot reach consensus with negotiations for many years,' AP quoted Hazra.

Scientists fear global warming causes the ice on both earth poles to permanently dissolve and raise sea levels. During the past decade, experts at the Oceanic University of Jadavpur University have found that the water level in the Bay of Bengal increases at an alarming rate. In 2000, the sea level only increased by 3 mm per year. But in the last decade seawater has increased by about 5 mm annually.

AP said, Lohachara, an island near New Moore, sank in 1996, forcing people on it to move to the mainland. Nearly half of an island called Ghoramara in the Bay of Bengal is also submerged. Hazra confirmed that at least 10 other islands in the bay could also disappear in the future.

"There will be a lot of people living in the Sunderbans mangrove forest to move because many islands in this area sink into the water ," the professor said.

Bangladesh is one of the countries most affected by climate change. Many climate models show that water levels at Bangladesh's coasts may increase by 100 cm by 2050. Bangladesh officials say 18% of the area near the coast will be submerged and about 20 million people. will have to leave their residence if the sea level rises by 100 cm.

The Bay of Bengal is part of the Indian Ocean and covers an area of ​​2,173,000 km ² . It borders India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and the Malay Peninsula.