Rising seas wash Japanese war dead from Pacific island graves [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Rising seas wash Japanese war dead from Pacific island graves
Source: Reuters - Fri, 6 Jun 2014 17:51 GMT
Author: Reuters

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

BONN, Germany, June 6 (Reuters) - Rising sea levels have washed the remains of at least 26 Japanese World War Two soldiers from their graves on a low-lying Pacific archipelago, the foreign minister of the Marshall Islands said on Friday.

"There are coffins and dead people being washed away from graves. It's that serious," Tony de Brum told reporters on the sidelines of U.N. climate change talks in Germany.

Putting the blame on climate change, which threatens the existence of the islands that are only 2 metres (6 ft) above sea level at their highest, de Brum said: "Even the dead are affected."

Twenty-six skeletons have been found on Santo Island after high tides battered the archipelago from February to April, he said, adding that more may be found. Unexploded bombs and other military equipment have also washed up in recent months.




Read more: http://www.trust.org/item/20140606174956-nu6fn/