Environmental Science Reading Assignment
Climate Refugees
Background Questions
Answer these questions before you read the chapter.
1. This reading passage centers around two cities. Malé, is the capital city of the Maldives,
and located at 4°N and 73°E. Shishmaref is in Alaska and located at 66°N and 166°W.
Mark each on the map below.
Reading Questions
Answer these questions as you read through the passage.
Alaska, the Kigiqtaamiut in jeopardy
1. At the time this reporter was in Shishmaref, what should have happened to the sea that
had not yet happened?
The sea should have frozen over solid at this point.
2. How much did the Sarichef Island shrink as a result of the mid-October storm?
Twenty feet of coastline were lost during the storm.
3. Three specific impacts on the island are ascribed to global warming. Describe the
changes to…
a. Seal hunting: The Inupiaq can hunt seal by boat in December (due to the lack of
sea ice).
b. Storms: Increase in frequency and strength.
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c. Permafrost: Has partially thawed.
d. Erosion: Occurs much more readily due to the weakened, thawed soil.
4. What action did the people take to slow the erosion of their beaches? Was this
successful?
Four levees were constructed, but these sank into the sand.
5. What did they do in 2002 to Mina Weyiouanna’s house, to protect it from the eroding
shoreline?
They used a crane to physically lift and move her house farther inland, away from the
coast.
6. What happened in 2000 to Jimmy Nayopuk’s house, which was not moved?
His home broke apart and fell into the sea.
Maldives, an archipelago in peril
7. What are the Maldivian Islands made of? How did they form?
White sand made from the erosion of coral reefs.
8. In addition to flooding from rising sea levels, what other fear do the Maldivian people
have for their cities?
They fear that the mountain of coral that makes up their islands could sink under the
weight of all the people and construction.
9. List two specific ways that global warming is causing an increase in sea levels.
Melting of the glaciers and thermal expansion of the ocean itself as the water warms.
10. Mohammed Ali has observed an average of 5 millimeters of sea level rise per year in
Mali. At this rate, how much would the ocean rise over the next century?
5mm/year x 100 years = 500mm, or 50cm over the next 100 years.
a. He also states that “…this natural balance is now broken, and that erosion wins
out over accretion.” What does he give as the cause of this imbalance?
The intensity of the erosion has increased so much that it outpaces the accretion
that occurs in other parts of the island.
11. What impact did the massive El Nino have on the water temperature around the
Maldives, and how did this impact the coral?
The water temperature went from 28°C to 31°C for about 6 weeks. This caused a
massive amount of coral bleaching, damaging about 2/3 of the reef.
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12. In the 1980s, the Maldivian government banned coral mining. Explain what they were
doing with the mined coral.
They were using bricks cut from the coral reef in building construction.
Discussion Questions
Answer these questions based on what you read, and any additional research you conduct.
13. How would you define a “climate refugee”?
A climate refugee is an individual who has to flee their homeland due to changes in the
environment that have occurred as a result of global warming. This could be due to sea
level rise, erosion, increase in storms, or some combination.
14. Despite being in completely different latitudes, what similar impacts is global warming
have on both Sarichef Island and the Maldives?
Both are experiencing land loss due to erosion and the rise in sea level. Since both are
islands, there is already a limited amount of land.
15. What is the population of Malé and Shishmaref?
Male – 116,618 as of 2012. Shishmaref – 582 as of 2012.
16. Given the geographic location of Sarichef Island and the Maldives, if the people there
had to evacuate and become climate refugees, where do you think they would go? What
possible difficulties might they face?
People living in both places will have a very difficult time relocating without leaving the
islands completely. Those in Sarichef Island could potentially go to the Alaskan
mainland or somewhere else in the United States. The people of Maldives, however,
would have to immigrate to an entirely different country. They may have a difficult time
finding a country willing to accept them as refugees. The population may be split up
amongst many different countries.
17. Coral bleaching was cited as a major problem around the Maldives. What exactly
happens to coral when it is bleached?
Coral is a symbiosis of coral polyps and algae. When the coral gets too warm, it ejects
the algae out. Since the algae photosynthesize most of the coral’s food, the coral
eventually dies.
18. Climate Refugees was first published in 2010. Go to
aurumscience.com/environmental_search.html and look for more recent article available
on Shishmaref and the Maldives. Have conditions improved? Have the evacuations
begun?
As of 2015, they have not yet evacuated. The people of Shishmaref are making longterm plants with the assumption they will have to leave the island. In the Maldives, they
are heavily fortifying the the islands with build structures, such as seawalls, harbors, or
artificial beaches. They are also heavily advocating for reductions in carbon emissions,
such as in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015.
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