Friends who pay attention to geographical knowledge should know the movement of the earth's crust.
The continental plates in which humans live today and the oceanic plates, which are full of mysteries and unknowns, are the products of the earth's crustal movements.
Even today, the movement of the earth's crust is still going on, but it may not be felt in most people's daily lives.
However, this does not mean that the "movement" of the earth can be ignored, but should be closely watched, because it is likely to be related to the future direction of mankind.
For example, as an island nation, Japan is often hit by earthquakes and tsunamis, which is actually a manifestation of the earth's "movement".
Not only that, but there have been endless reports about the sinking of Japanese islands over the years.
However, behind this news, some people found that not only Japan, but also China has two places that are also "sinking", and even one of them is about to disappear.
These two places are Changdao County (now revoked) in Yantai, Shandong Province, and Luodousha Island in Zhanjiang, Guangdong.
However, rather than speculation about the sinking of Japan's crust, it is more related to plate movements, and more speculation about China's "sinking" region revolves around human factors.
So, is this the case?
1. The sinking Changdao County and Luodousha Island
Changdao County was originally a county-level area under the jurisdiction of Yantai City, Shandong Province, and now Changdao County has been abolished.
It has become an independent operation in accordance with the provincial marine ecological civilization construction functional area system.
Long Island has 32 islands, including 10 inhabited islands, covering an area of 56.8 square kilometers and a sea area of 3,541 square kilometers.
In ancient times, it was called the "Land of Laiyi" and has many beautiful natural scenery.
Jiuzhang Cliff, Half Moon Bay, Beizhuang Ruins, etc., are all famous tourist attractions here, which can attract a large number of tourists every year.
However, as the changes in the marine environment caused by global warming cause the islands to sink, some of these attractions may disappear from public view one day in the future.
Not only that, but the island's population is also showing a negative growth trend, especially some young people, who are more yearning for a life outside.
If this trend continues, the number of inhabited islands may decrease.
Compared with Changdao County, Luodousha Island is much less famous, formed in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, with an area of about 4.9 km², and there are seabirds all year round, and the colorful seabird eggs add a different kind of interest to the island.
However, as an uninhabited island, the problem of sinking of Luodousha Island is relatively unserious, and the area has been reduced by nearly half in the past ten years.
About 80 percent of the remaining 1.6 square kilometres of the island's land area is yellow sand, giving some sand poachers a reason to be rampant, and further exacerbating the rate of shrinkage.
2. What will be the impact of island sinking?
For island countries, even if they are on small islands, they cannot be abandoned casually, which is related to the size of their own land area.
Of course, this will also be reflected in countries that are not islands, but have islands.
However, as the islands gradually subsided, the most direct impact was the reduction of land area.
Especially on islands where people are already inhabited, the living space may become smaller and smaller, and there is not much land resources to use for the construction of houses.
In addition, the area of arable land on the island will also be reduced, and "the people live on food", when they can't even eat enough, how can they talk about developing other economies on the island?
In addition to basic agriculture, the economic resources of the average islander will be related to fishing.
The sinking of islands is often closely related to changes in sea depth, in which case the direction of ocean circulation in the waters around the islands will change.
For some populations of marine organisms that migrate in response to ocean circulation, this change will deviate from their original migration routes.
It is also possible that the ecosystems near the islands will be destroyed and the numbers will not be as good as before, which will be detrimental to fishery resources and reduce the income of the islanders.
As for why the depth of the sea changes, it is said that after global warming, the melting rate of icebergs at the poles will accelerate, which in turn will lead to a rise in sea levels.
As a result, some of the lower islands may sink over time until they are swallowed up by the ocean.
In addition, there should be many people who know the phrase "the action of force is mutual".
It also makes sense to put this in the context of island sinking and changes in the global climate system.
When global warming causes islands to sink and is an important part of the earth's surface, when the shape and location of islands change, affecting the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere, it will also have a subtle impact on the global climate.
However, such an impact is not something that can be seen intuitively in a short period of time, and it is also unpredictable.
3. How to deal with the problem of island sinking
There are many times when human power is not worth mentioning in the face of nature, which is why there is a shift from recognizing the impact of human activities on nature to the dire consequences for the future of humanity.
The sinking of islands is a serious environmental problem, because its effects are complex.
If we don't respond in time, we can start sinking from one island to multiple islands, like an infectious disease, and eventually many islands become "food" for the ocean.
As for how to deal with such a situation, the key point is to start from protecting the environment and not destroying the original natural environment of the island.
Although stopping the destruction may be a palliative solution for islands that are already sinking, slowing down the rate of sinking is already a success.
The concept of "sustainable development" is believed to be a concept that most people are aware of nowadays, and it can be used to deal with a variety of problems, not just the sinking of islands.
On the basis of this concept, in addition to protecting the original ecological environment of the islands, it is also necessary to strengthen the progress of ecological restoration, such as strengthening the seawall and prohibiting overfishing.
In this way, the island's ecosystem can be stabilized again, and it will be resilient to natural changes and will not be easily harmed.
Of course, not to destroy it is not to let the people who live on the island have no source of income from now on, but to learn to develop a green economy.
By separating waste and reusing renewable resources, it can also reduce the impact of waste accumulation on the island's environment.
Another example is to increase the new energy industry on the island and reduce the loss of traditional resources.
The purpose of this is to avoid the waste of natural resources, and then after long-term improvement efforts, there will be an opportunity to achieve ecological and economic harmony.
However, this is not something that can be done by one person, but requires the support of the state.
For example, we can set up a scientific land planning system to make reasonable use of every inch of land on the island and avoid overdevelopment.
In addition, with the implementation of land conservation practices such as planting vegetation, the problem of land degradation on the island can be further reduced, and the soil structure of the island can be more stable.
It should be noted that before doing this, it is necessary to further grasp the reasons for the sinking of the islands.
As mentioned earlier, there is a difference between the Japanese islands and China's Nagashima Prefecture and Luodousha Island.
Don't think that the difference is insignificant, just protect the islands.
This is the same as treating a disease, how can we carry out more targeted treatment if the cause is not clear?
To this end, it is necessary to arrange professional personnel to carry out geological exploration work, and at the same time, it is necessary to do a good job of studying the marine environment around the island, find out the cause of the subsidence, and then formulate more effective countermeasures.
During this period, the monitoring of the sinking rate of the island cannot be ignored, although it is a time-consuming thing, but it is of great significance.
Moreover, with the help of remote sensing technology, big data analysis and other means, the dynamic changes of the island can be understood in time, and then early warning can be carried out before disasters occur, providing strong support for disaster prevention and mitigation.
Taking Japan as an example, although earthquakes occur frequently, after monitoring geological changes through certain scientific and technological means, early warnings can be issued before earthquakes come, which greatly reduces the probability of casualties.
That's why many Japanese people have a mentality of "indifference" when they think of earthquakes.
However, even if it doesn't matter, it is still necessary to actively learn some knowledge related to disaster prevention and mitigation, so as to better protect the safety of life and property in the event of a disaster.
This should not be ignored for people living on islands, after all, in the face of many sudden disasters, waiting for the rescue before the self-rescue link is of great significance to ensure the safety of life.
In addition, in the face of problems related to the natural environment, many times it is necessary to deal with them globally, and it is not possible to solve global environmental hazards by relying on one country alone.
From the perspective of this larger pattern, it is necessary to strengthen international exchanges and cooperation, and share research results and technical experience in dealing with the phenomenon of island sinking.
epilogue
Even in the era of rapid development of science and technology, and even with many years of experience in exploring outer space, human cognition of the earth is actually still on the surface.
No one can say what kind of feedback nature will give to the effects of human activities.
But what is certain is that it is always necessary to protect the environment, and by reducing the damage caused by man-made nature, it will help to add security to the home.
In this process, it is necessary for all countries to work together and clearly understand the "community with a shared future for mankind".