Changes in the environment through human activities

Humans have been obliged to adapt and prevent disasters as the environment has changed as a result of human activity and natural forces. The vanished Islands and the Bali warming are two examples of changes in our local environment that push us to rethink how we live. Furthermore, humans receive a type of warning for acts that have increased the output of greenhouse gases. As a result, there is an urgent need to continue passing legislation aimed at conserving our environment for our own and future generations’ benefit. The incidence of the lost islands that were located in the South Pacific is an apt example of the negative human activities that has caused the melting of the ice caps. Eight low-lying islands in the located in Solomon Islands and Micronesia are reported to have been swallowed by the rising level of water in the ocean (Newman 1). The swallowing of six of these islands took place in a period of 7 years between 2007 and 2014 (Nanau 360-361). The sea levels are likely to rise even more that what is projected from the past studies on the environment issue. As an archipelago, Solomon Island has been recording an increase of the sea level waters by 10mm within the last 20 years (Nanau 364). As a result of these natural phenomenon, the Samoan government has been issuing warning to other occupants of low lying islands in the region. People were forced to vacate in the eight islands that are now underwater resulting to the loss of an area approximated to be 2-6 hectares on each piece of land (Nanau 359). In one of the Islands called Nuatambu, more than 20 families are reported to have been completely vacated the place before it became completely inhabitable (Nanau 354-361). In determining the regions that are in great danger and the impact of the rise of water levels, scientists have been relying on the satellite images as well as the knowledge of radiocarbon dating of the plant lives.

In the resort island of Bali in Indonesia, terrifying tremors for a volcano made the government raise alarm and advised the local community to relocated the region for a much safer place elsewhere (Newman 1). It is reported that more than 30 000 people fled their homes as the magnitude of the tremors rose beyond any recorded levels in the last 50 years (Wunderlich & Daniel 489). In 1963, Mount Agung erupted, and more than 1000 people were reported to have died from a disaster that little could be done to control (Dyer & Hicks 547-548). The government had to come up with measures to prevent the loss of lives from such a phenomenon through early detection systems and evacuations.

The disaster mitigation agency in Indonesia played a significant in the evacuation process as fears continued to grow about a possible eruption of Mount Agung. The tourist hub located 75 kilometers from Kuta saw alert warnings being issued to the international airport, threatening the normal operations and flight schedules. Plans were made to have passengers taken to alternative tourist hubs in the region to avoid casualties of a possible eruption. Since the recording of these tremors, the government, through the Indonesian Center for Volcanology has been keen on the issue until today where no eruption has taken place.

Work Cited

Dyer, A. J., and B. B. Hicks. “Global spread of volcanic dust from the Bali eruption of 1963.” Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 94.402 (1968): 547-548

Nanau, Gordon Leua. “Solomon Islands.” The Contemporary Pacific 29.2 (2017): 354-361.

Newman, Steve. “Week Ending Friday, September 22, 2017.” Earthweek: Diary of a Changing World, 2017, p. 1.

Wunderlich, Fabian, and Daniel M. Mitchell. “Revisiting the observed surface climate response to large volcanic eruptions.” Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 17.1 (2017): 485-499.