Marshall Islands - The world's next Atlantis

Everyone dreams of having waterfront property on the ocean. However the people of the Marshall Islands are probably the exception. With the constant rise of sea level due to climate change, low lying areas such as the Marshall Islands along with other Pacific islands and atolls are in jeopardy of being submerged. This constant threat of being washed out has led to most Marshallese to flee to America due to a compact of free association which allows those from the Marshall Islands to freely move to the US. This mass migration off of the islands has led to about 1/3 of all Marshallese to be found outside of their own nation and instead inside the USA. Most of this population can be found in Springdale, Arkansas.  With the mass migration comes the concern that the culture of the Marshall Islands will disappear as well. The integration of the Marshallese into America has led to the slow disappearance of the culture in favor of American. There are efforts to help preserve the culture, but the culture is very much tied to the land rather than the people, so no islands means no culture. This is all stemmed from climate change, which is advanced by our habits. If we do not change our activities soon we could witness the extinction of not just the species on the islands but of the culture, customs, and way of life o the Marshallese. We are not above this new threat of extinction, but rather very much involved both in the formation and the effects.  We must change our actions now if we wish to preserve the Marshall Islands and prevent the civilization for disappearing beneath the waves.

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