Washington Post oped page to publish my oped on polar cities and climate refugees soon, the editor tells me (thanks, POST!)

Thank you for your recent op-ed submission. The column was carefully
reviewed, and The Post is able to publish this piece.
Thanks,
Editorial Department
The Washington Post
======================================


Climate Refugees to Alaska in 2500?

"America must face scenario of 'climate change refugees' in distant future"

by Dan Bloom
Special to the Washington Post


North to Alaska? You bet. In the next 500 years, millions of climate

refugees are going to make their way to Alaska. And it won't be a pretty

picture. Washington should take note.



While Juneau seems to be far removed from the experts who recently made

their way to Copenhagen to try to hammer our blueprints to prevent global

warming from having a doomsday impact on humankind, Alaska will certainly

be on the front line of these issues.



Despite most observers thinking that solutions lie in mitigation ideas,

there are a growing number of climatologists and scientists who believe

that the A-word - adaptation - must be confronted head-on, too. The fact

is, despite the head-in-the-sand protestations of climate denialists such

former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), we cannot stop climate change or global

warming.



The Earth's atmosphere has already passed the tipping point, and in the

next 500 years, temperatures will rise considerably, sea levels will rise

considerably and millions, even billions, of people from the tropical and

temperate zones of the Earth will be forced to migrate north in search of

food, fuel and shelter. This is where Alaska, and Alaskans, will play a

central role.



By the year 2500, Alaska could be home to millions of climate refugees from

the Lower 48 and Central and South America who will have migrated north,

seeking safe harbor from the devastating impact of global warming in those

future times.



Many parts of the Alaska coastline will be under water, and Juneau will

find itself home to new kinds of visitors from the Lower 48 and beyond.

They won't be coming on cruise ships or airplanes, since there will be no

fuel for such services. They will be coming by road, on foot and bicycle.

Prepare yourselves.



Alaska must be prepared for the worst-case scenario. By 2500, millions,

billions of people will have been forced to leave their home countries in

the tropical and temperate zones and migrate north en masse to faraway

northern regions to find shelter in United Nations-funded climate refuges

in places such as Alaska, Russia and Canada. People from India, Vietnam,

Thailand, Japan and the Philippines will make their way to Juneau and

further north to Anchorage and Fairbanks. It won't be a pretty picture.



When I asked acclaimed British scientist James Lovelock if such a scenario

for Alaska was likely, he said in an e-mail: "It may very well happen,

yes."



Humans cannot engineer our way out of global warming, although scientists

who believe in geo-engineering have offered their theories on how to do it.

There are no easy fixes. Humankind has put too many greenhouse gases into

the atmosphere, the result of the industrial revolution that gave us

trains, plans and automobiles - and much more to live comfortable and

trendy lives - and now there is so much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

that the Earth cannot recover.



Forget trying to be more "green" in our daily lives. Alaska, like the rest

of the world, is now doomed to a very bleak future. There will be millions

of climate refugees seeking shelter in Alaska and Canada (and in far south

places such as New Zealand, Tasmania and Antarctica as well.)



Meetings in Copenhagen and Rio de Janiero and at the U.N. building in

Manhattan will not stop global warming. What we need to focus on now is

preparing future generations for what our world will become in the next 500

years and how best to survive it. The Alaska Legislature needs to start

thinking about these issues, too. There is a very strong possibility that

the Northern White House will be located in Juneau, perhaps taking over the

Governor's Mansion there where Sarah Palin once presided.



For the next 100 years or so, life will go on as normal in the Lower 48, so

don't worry too much. There is nothing to worry about now. For the next 100

years, the local department stores in the Washington will continue to hawk

their trendy items, international computer firms will continue to launch

their latest cell phones and tech gadgets, and airline companies will

continue to offer passengers quick passage here and there, from the

Maldives to Manhattan, for business and for pleasure.



But in the next 500 years, according to Lovelock and otther scientists who

are not afraid to think outside the box, things are going to get bad.

Unspeakably bad.



Those of us who are alive today won't suffer, and the next few generations

of humans will be fine, too. The big troubles will probably start around

2200 - Lovelock says sooner - and last for some 300 years or so.



By 2500, Alaska will be home to the U.S. Congress, the White House and the

Department of Homeland Security, and the Lower 48 will be uninhabited, as

will most of the countries in Africa, Asia, South America and Europe.



We are entering uncharted waters, and as the waters rise and the

temperatures go up as well, future generations will have some important

choices to make: where to live, how to live, how to grow food, how to power

their climate refugee settlements, how to plan and how to pray. Alaska will

be on the front lines of this new world. The question is: will Alaska, and

the U.S. government, be ready?



[Dan Bloom, a 1971 Tufts graduate, is a former editor of the Capital City


Weekly newspaper in Juneau, Alaska, who has been living in Asia


since 1991.]