Reference: Rising tides threaten Pacific Islands, Bangkok Post, August 30, 2009

Atolls in the South Pacific form when a volcanic island begins to sink by subduction and they remain above water as long as the rate of sinking is less than the rate of coral growth and become indundated otherwise. This process cannot in any way be related to carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and cannot in any way be mitigated by by the various proposals to be put forth in the upcoming Copenhagen meeting on climate change (Rising tides threaten Pacific Islands, Bangkok Post, August 30, 2009). The observed inundation of some of the atolls could not have been caused by sea level rise for that would have affected all atolls equally.

Also, the claim that carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels has caused an increase in the severity and frequency of natural disasters - an idea that got started with hurricane Katrina - is contrary to the data for they show no such increase. The 2007 tsunami in the Soloman islands cited in the article as evidence was a volcanic event and therefore unrelated to the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere.

Cha-am Jamal

Thailand