‘The sea advances’: Vatican newspaper warns ‘millions at risk’ in eastern India
May 30, 2024
» Continue to this story on L'Osservatore Romano (Italian)
CWN Editor's Note: With the headline “Il mare avanza” [The sea advances], L’Osservatore Romano devoted prominent front-page coverage in its May 29 edition to the suffering caused by rising waters in the eastern Indian state of Odisha (Orissa) (map).
“Coastal erosion in the Bay of Bengal is worsening due to rising waters caused by global warming,” according to the newspaper. “The survival of millions of people is at risk.”
Regretting the loss of a Hindu temple in the seaside village of Satabhaya, reporter Isabella Piro wrote that “it was neither wars nor conflicts that destroyed the place of worship. Or rather: it was not a clash between armed men, but rather a harsh confrontation between man and nature. Global warming caused by human activity—and New Delhi, with a record temperature of 52.3°C [126° F] recorded today, is proof of this—has led to the melting of the polar ice caps and the consequent rise in sea levels.”
Odisha was the site of a 2008 anti-Christian pogrom, led by Hindu fundamentalists, during which an estimated 100 Christians were murdered, and 50,000 fled their homes.
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