New Guinea's islands are sinking into the Pacific Ocean
Oct. 29, 1999 — A group of New Guinea's islands is sinking into the Pacific Ocean at the rate of 4 to 6 inches a year, and a team of government scientists has recommended that their 20,000 residents be moved to other islands. In a report issued on Friday, officials advised that the evacuations be carried out quickly. The Duke of York Islands in the St. Georges Channel is a cluster of densely forested, low-lying islands which are sinking not because of rising sea levels, but due to seismic activity. The region is known for powerful earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In September 1994, two volcanoes on opposite sides of a caldera began to erupt, with little or no warning. The explosions continued for four months. When the activity ceased, islanders moved back, but the regional news service Pacnews said that the government team would now move the inhabitants to the Gazelle Peninsula in New Britain. Dr. Simon Saulei of the United Nations Development Programs said that many homes, roads, schoolhouses and wharves, as well as much coastal vegetation were already under water.