The ice at the North Pole is melting. Satellite photographs over the past two decades show that the size of the ice cap is rapidly shrinking. If it continues to melt at this rate, it will not be long before the northern sea route to Asia is navigable in summer. Estimates first arrived at 2070, then 2030 and now some computer models have estimated an ice-free North Pole from the summer of 2013. Global warming, caused by the increased greenhouse effect, is responsible for polar ice melting. The greenhouse effect is increased by the emission of CO2 and other gases by industries, power plants and automobiles. An attempt is being made worldwide to come to an agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol is now in force, but has not been ratified by the biggest polluters such as China and the United States, who fear a negative effect on their economies.
The sea level is rising worldwide due to climate change. This has far-reaching consequences for humans and animals. The polar bear, for instance, is losing large sections of its habitat. People living in low-lying areas are threatened by the rising sea level. Estimates vary from a few centimetres to one and a half metres. Developing countries will probably be the most heavily hit because they do not have the means to take adequate precautions.
The Netherlands, like Bangladesh, is a densely populated and low-lying river delta. Unlike Bangladesh, however, the Netherlands does have the means to combat rising sea levels. The so-called Delta Committee concluded in 2008 that the safety level behind the Dutch dikes had to be raised by a factor of ten at least. Stronger dikes and sand suppletion along the coast are possible solutions. The cost of these is estimated by the Committee at 1 to 1.5 billion euros annually, less than half a percent of the gross domestic product.
For Bangladesh it is quite a different matter. The gross domestic product of that country is not one-tenth that of the Netherlands, even though almost ten times as many people live there. It has no money to protect its 575 kilometres of coastline. Already Bangladesh regularly suffers flooding; any further rise in sea level will be disastrous for the population. All they can do is flee. This introduces a new phenomenon: the climate refugee.
