No, the BBC, a small island of Panama (BBC) hasn't drowned due to climate change – Watt gets along with it?

BBC Recent Articles “Climate Change: Panama Community Escape from Drowning Island“Accounting that sea level rise has swallowed Panama's Cartí Sugdupu Island due to climate change. This is wrong. The reality is that the residents of the island are not forced to relocate due to the increase in the ocean, but are due to overcrowding, poor infrastructure and lack of resources, which has nothing to do with climate change. In addition, real-world examples and peer-reviewed research contradict the notion and notion that islands disappear due to rising oceans. Instead, many islands have passed over time. Growing, adapting and changing naturally. BBC reports are misleading at best, and at worst, intentionally deceiving.

CartíSugdupu is one of the San Blas Islands of Panama and is home to the indigenous Gunas. The BBC article maps climate-induced displacement, completely ignoring the fact that the island is severely crowded, with more than 1,000 people crowding a small space of only 0.028 square miles. That's a higher population density than New York City! The main reason for residents' movement is not rising sea levels, but poor living conditions, lack of fresh water and shortage of space, which has been urgent for decades.

Rather than addressing these fundamental issues, the BBC has viewed relocation as a direct result of climate change, although there is no evidence that the ocean is responsible. Sea levels around Panama rise on average about 1 to 3 mm per year, consistent with natural post-glacial ice age trends, a rate that has not yet risen during recent climate change. Therefore, there is no sign of an upcoming climate disaster climate. At this rate, it took centuries to face the submersion.

Some new islands are even emerging. For example in the article St. Brass Rebirth: Appearance in new islands hysterically in climate change It is reported:

On the coast of Maokui in New York City, the Netherlands, a new island is gradually forming. Over the past decade, it started out as just a piece of land about 5 meters by 8 meters, and to 40 meters by 80 meters.

The BBC article suggests that small islands like Cartí Sugdupu are swallowed by the ocean, but no peer-reviewed research shows that most islands are stable or even enlarged. A study published in 2018 Natural Communications 101 Pacific and Indian Ocean islands were examined and 88% of people found stable or increased in size (Kench, Ford, & Owen, 2018). The process of shaping islands – accumulation, growth of coral reefs and dynamic land movements, i.e. atolls and low-lying islands are not passive victims of sea level rise.

Tuvalu is a perfect example. Despite years of claiming that the country will disappear, its total land area has actually increased by 2.9% over the past four decades. Similar observations are made on the islands of Kiribati, Maldives and Marshall Islands. If these islands are growing or maintaining their size despite rising sea levels, why would CartíSugdupu be destined to be unique? The BBC refuses to acknowledge the reality of this inconvenience.

The real reason for relocating residents of CartíSugdupu has nothing to do with climate change. Instead, it depends on the basic infrastructure challenges:

• Excessive population – From the head photos, the island is overcrowded and has nowhere to expand. Unlike naturally growing coral atolls, CartíSugdupu is an isolated, inhabited island with no additional housing or development space.
• Lack of fresh water and sanitation – Many small islands struggle with freshwater supply. The BBC ignores this and attributes all difficulties to climate change.
• Economic and government decisions – The Panama government is relocating residents, which is part of the plan, not an emergency evacuation due to rising waters.

The BBC report is a classic example of climate shockism dressed up as journalism, organisations pushing narrative while ignoring key facts. The BBC mistakenly believes that climate change forces its residents to relocate rather than investigating the real reason behind Cartí Sugdupu’s relocation (lack of infrastructure and government decisions). It was the government that made this decision, not because the oceans rose at an unusual historical rate. The BBC ignored peer-reviewed research, refuting the disappearance of its island, without mentioning historical sea level trends, and neglecting important local factors that explain the island’s challenges. This is not an objective report, but activism disguised as news. BBC listeners deserve better and deserve the truth.

Anthony Watts

Anthony Watts is a senior researcher in the Environment and Climate at the Heartland Institute. Watts has been in the weather business in front of and behind the camera since 1978 and currently broadcast forecasts are being made every day. He created a weather graphics demonstration system for television, professional weather instruments, and co-authored a peer-reviewed paper on climate issues. He runs the most viewed website in the world on the award-winning site wattsupwiththat.com.

Originally published in ClimateRealism

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