Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea levels (2024)

On a tiny island off Panama’s Caribbean coast, about 300 families are packing their belongings in preparation for a dramatic change. Generations of Gunas who have grown up on Gardi Sugdub in a life dedicated to the sea and tourism will trade that next week for the mainland’s solid ground.

They go voluntarily — sort of.

The Gunas of Gardi Sugdub are the first of 63 communities along Panama’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts that government officials and scientists expect to be forced to relocate by rising sea levels in the coming decades.

Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea levels (1)

On a recent day, the island’s Indigenous residents rowed or sputtered off with outboard motors to fish. Children, some in uniforms and others in the colorful local textiles called “molas,” chattered as they hustled through the warren of narrow dirt streets on their way to school.

“We’re a little sad, because we’re going to leave behind the homes we’ve known all our lives, the relationship with the sea, where we fish, where we bathe and where the tourists come, but the sea is sinking the island little by little,” said Nadín Morales, 24, who prepared to move with her mother, uncle and boyfriend.

An official with Panama’s ministry of housing said that some people have decided to stay on the island until it’s no longer safe, without revealing a specific number. Authorities won’t force them to leave, the official said on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue.

Gardi Sugdub is one of about 50 populated islands in the archipelago of the Guna Yala territory. It is only about 400 yards long and 150 yards wide. From above, it’s roughly a prickly oval surrounded by dozens of short docks where residents tie up their boats.

Every year, especially when the strong winds whip up the sea in November and December, water fills the streets and enters the homes. Climate change isn’t only leading to a rise in sea levels, but it’s also warming oceans and thereby powering stronger storms.

The Gunas have tried to reinforce the island’s edge with rocks, pilings and coral, but seawater keeps coming.

“Lately, I’ve seen that climate change has had a major impact,” Morales said. “Now the tide comes to a level it didn’t before, and the heat is unbearable.”

The Guna’s autonomous government decided two decades ago that they needed to think about leaving the island, but at that time it was because the island was getting too crowded. The effects of climate change accelerated that thinking, said Evelio López, a 61-year-old teacher on the island.

He plans to move with relatives to the new site on the mainland that the government developed at a cost of $12 million. The concrete houses sit on a grid of paved streets carved out of the lush tropical jungle just over a mile from the port, where an eight-minute boat ride carries them to Gardi Sugdub.

Leaving the island is “a great challenge, because more than 200 years of our culture is from the sea, so leaving this island means a lot of things,” López said. “Leaving the sea, the economic activities that we have there on the island, and now we’re going to be on solid ground, in the forest. We’re going to see what the result is in the long run.”

Steven Paton, director of the Smithsonian Institution’s physical monitoring program in Panama, said that the upcoming move “is a direct consequence of climate change through the increase in sea level.”

“The islands on average are only a half-meter above sea level, and as that level rises, sooner or later the Gunas are going to have to abandon all of the islands almost surely by the end of the century or earlier.”

“All of the world’s coasts are being affected by this at different speeds,” Paton said.

Residents of a small coastal community in Mexico moved inlandlast year after storms continued to take away their homes. Governments are being forced to take action, from the Italian lagoon cityof Venice to the coastal communities of New Zealand.

A recent study by Panama’s Environmental Ministry’s Climate Change directorate, with support from universities in Panama and Spain, estimated that by 2050, Panama would lose about 2.01% of its coastal territory to increases in sea levels.

Panama estimates that it will cost about $1.2 billion to relocate the 38,000 or so inhabitants who will face rising sea levels in the short- and medium-term, said Ligia Castro, climate change director for the Environmental Ministry.

On Gardi Sugdub, women who make the elaborately embroidered molas worn by Guna women hang them outside their homes when finished, trying to catch the eye of visiting tourists.

The island and others along the coast have benefitted for years from year-round tourism.

Braucilio de la Ossa, the deputy secretary of Carti, the port facing Gardi Sugdub, said that he planned to move with his wife, daughter, sister-in-law and mother-in-law. Some of his wife’s relatives will stay on the island.

He said the biggest challenge for those moving would be the lifestyle change of moving from the sea inland even though the distance is relatively small.

“Now that they will be in the forest their way of living will be different,” he said.

Associated Press

Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea levels (2024)

FAQs

Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea levels? ›

Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea levels. Buildings cover Gardi Sugdub island, part of the San Blas

San Blas
The San Blas Islands of Panama is an archipelago comprising approximately 365 islands and cays, of which 49 are inhabited. They lie off the north coast of the Isthmus of Panama, east of the Panama Canal. A part of the comarca (district) Guna Yala along the Caribbean coast of Panama, it is home to the Kuna people.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › San_Blas_Islands
archipelago off Panama's Caribbean coast, May 25, 2024. Most of the people who live on Gardi Sugdub are preparing to evacuate the island because of rising sea levels.

Which island evacuated due to rising sea levels? ›

About 300 families have successfully relocated off the island of Gardi Sugdub due to concerns over rising sea levels, Panama's ministry of housing announced Friday. The small island off of the country's Caribbean coast has been the home to the Indigenous Guna people for generations.

What Panama island is being evacuated? ›

Gardi Sugdub, an island off Panama's Caribbean coast, will be evacuated.

Which island nations are at risk of entirely disappearing as a result of sea level rise? ›

Climate change is a major issue for the Maldives. As an archipelago of low-lying islands and atolls in the Indian Ocean, the existence of the Maldives is severely threatened by sea level rise. By 2050, 80% of the country could become uninhabitable due to global warming.

What island is threatened by rising sea levels? ›

About a million people live in coral atolls like those in the Maldives, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands. These islands are just a few feet in elevation, making them some of the places most at-risk from the rising seas that will result from climate change.

Which Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea level? ›

Most of the people who live on Gardi Sugdub are preparing to evacuate the island because of rising sea levels. On a tiny island off Panama's Caribbean coast, about 300 families are packing their belongings in preparation for a dramatic change.

What island is lost to rising sea levels? ›

In the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, Tuvalu's sinking shores stand as a haunting testament to the immediate and irreversible impacts of climate change. As this tiny island nation grapples with the encroaching sea, its plight becomes a symbol of the urgent global crisis that demands our attention.

When was the Panama incident? ›

United States invasion of Panama
DateDecember 20, 1989 – January 31, 1990 (1 month, 1 week and 4 days)
LocationPanama
ResultAmerican victory

What natural disaster happened in Panama? ›

Panamá – Floods and Landslides Leave 1 Missing, Hundreds of Homes Damaged. Heavy rain in Panamá has caused floods and landslides in several parts of the country since 12 June 2021. The heavy rain caused rivers to overflow, landslides and flash flooding…

Where is Panama now? ›

Panama is located in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, between Colombia and Costa Rica. It mostly lies between latitudes 7° and 10°N, and longitudes 77° and 83°W (a small area lies west of 83°). Its location on the Isthmus of Panama is strategic.

What country will sink first? ›

According to a study cited by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, five nations (the Maldives, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, Nauru and Kiribati) may become uninhabitable by 2100, creating 600,000 stateless climate refugees.

Which city is sinking? ›

The 10 Fastest Sinking Coastal Cities
RankCityCountry
1Tianjin🇨🇳 China
2Ho Chi Minh City🇻🇳 Vietnam
3Chittagong🇧🇩 Bangladesh
4Yangon🇲🇲 Myanmar
6 more rows
Mar 1, 2024

What will be underwater by 2030? ›

1. Miami, USA. Miami, known for its sun-kissed beaches and vibrant culture, is already feeling the impacts of rising sea levels. With its low elevation and susceptibility to powerful storms, the city could find itself submerged by 2030.

Where will rising sea levels affect the most? ›

Which countries will be most affected by rising sea levels? Bangladesh, China, India and the Netherlands were singled out by the United Nations last year as being at high risk from rising sea levels, with nearly 900 million people living in low-lying coastal areas in acute danger.

What island is at risk of disappearing? ›

The Kiribati Islands, a group of low-lying coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, are at risk of disappearing due to rising sea levels. The islands, which are home to over 100,000 people, are already experiencing flooding and saltwater intrusion, making it difficult to grow crops and access clean water.

Which city is the most threatened by rising sea levels? ›

Sea Level Rise Projections
  • Bangkok, Thailand. Sea level rise projections put Thailand's capital as the world's most vulnerable city. ...
  • Amsterdam, Netherlands. Second on the list is Amsterdam. ...
  • Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. ...
  • Cardiff, United Kingdom. ...
  • New Orleans, US. ...
  • Manila, Philippines. ...
  • London, United Kingdom. ...
  • Shenzhen, China.
Jun 4, 2022

Which islands disappeared due to global warming? ›

Another lost island is Lohachara Island in India's Sundarbans delta. The island, which was home to over 10,000 people, disappeared in 2006 due to rising sea levels caused by climate change. The island's inhabitants were forced to relocate to the mainland, losing their homes, livelihoods, and cultural heritage.

How long before Tangier Island is underwater? ›

The entire island could be underwater within 50-100 years, thanks to the slow marching drum of climate change, which would mean a devastating displacement for its residents, who feel a powerful sense of identity that stretches back centuries.

Which Caribbean islands are at risk of rising sea levels? ›

The Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago are expected to be the most affected because at least 80% of the total land is below the sea level. Coastal losses range between US$940 million to $1.2 billion in the 22 largest coastal cities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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