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Readers React: How many more climate refugees will we tolerate before taking action?

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To the editor: Victoria Herrmann writes of how climate change has put coastal areas from Alaska to the Chesapeake Bay at great risk. By ignoring warnings and continuing our nation’s hunger for carbon-based fuel, we now see that what has happened around the world has come to the United States, eating away at our treasured shores. (“America’s climate refugee crisis has already begun,” Opinion, Jan. 25)

I visited Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay some years ago. This lovely and quaint place, much away from the hustle and bustle of the mainland, is home to a culture dating back three centuries that time has forgotten. Tangier Island is barely above sea level, putting it especially at risk with rising oceans. Losing this island will not only displace the residents, but we will all lose a piece of history rich with unique cultural aspects.

How many dead canaries in how many coal mines will there be before we take drastic steps to save our planet from the ravages of self-inflicted climate change?

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Margaret Davis, La Verne

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To the editor: It will be interesting to see how Republican Governors Chris Christie (New Jersey), Nikki Haley (South Carolina) and others in coastal states explain their requests for federal dollars to mitigate the damages caused by the “fake” climate change-caused rising tides that are eroding their beaches and endangering their coastal cities.

Similarly, how does former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin explain Newtok, the Yupik village that will soon have to be abandoned?

Will there be enough realists to help them, or will the deniers suddenly have a change of heart and face reality?

Arthur A. Fleisher II, Northridge

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