(April 14, 2011) Ten Pacific island nations strive to meet at a UN conference.

Scientific expeditions from ten countries are today converging on the vicinity of what was once known as the island of Palau, a formerly populated region of the Pacific believed to have disappeared due to rising sea levels, according to climate change models from the United Nations Environment Program.  The former residents of Palau, the 2005 models indicated, were among 50 million climate refugees that fell victim to the ravages of climate change by 2010. Although some sceptics point to empirical evidence to dispute the UN data showing the island’s demise, it is well known that climate change models do not lie.

Today’s expeditions, organized by the United Development Program, a sister UN agency, vows to hold two days of workshops at the very coordinates that once hosted Palau. According to a UNDP press release, the expedition members will “discuss how countries can increase their access to climate funds and use them sustainably.”

To assist in their voyage of discovery, the members of the expeditions will be able to rely on a 2008 map produced by the UNEP cartographer, Emmanuelle Bournay, which shows the lost islands of the Pacific.

To view the map, and the lessons it provides for mankind, click here. To learn more about UNEP’s predictions, click here. For the original study by Professor Norman Myers of Oxford on which the UN based its mapping, click here.

Lawrence Solomon is executive director of Energy Probe and the author of The Deniers. LawrenceSolomon@nextcity.com.