GoDaddy Wants You To Know: Tuvalu Is Sinking

I love the frantic, attention-span-deprived pace of internet memes. Thanks in no small part to boingboing, the nerd/treehugger/angry media blogger demographic has been abuzz with talk about this little phenomenon:

When you type in a domain name -- to check its availability -- and select the extension ".tv," a very interesting thing happens.

You're given prices for all of the choices -- .com, .net, etc. -- and little tidbits of information. The info for ".org" includes "Popular choice for non-commercial organizations." Sure, I'd heard about that. But here's the first tip on why you'd consider buying a ".tv" domain name:

"Note: The island of Tuvalu is sinking."

See for yourself:

Boingboing slightly misinterpreted the message: "If I'm reading the pop-up window correctly, domain registrar Godaddy recommends against purchasing .tv domain names because the island of Tuvalu, which the domain represents, is sinking."

Not quite -- GoDaddy recommends that you do purchase the .tv domain because the island is sinking. It's the selling point.

My curiosity piqued, I called up GoDaddy to ask about their tiny, easy-to-miss environmentally aware message.

Here's what their general counsel, Christine Jones had to say by email later:

It is a fact that Tuvalu is sinking. We wanted to make sure people interested in the .TV domain were aware. This has been on our site for a while. Every so often, we receive a comment about it. More often than not, people think it's funny.

And in the spirit of making sure people are aware, here's a little about dying crops and eroding trees.

A tide gauge set up by Australia's National Tidal Facility indicates that sea levels have been rising slightly but steadily over the past 10 years, and a local meteorologist shows Pollock that during high tides, sea water actually bubbles up on land through the porous coral. Encroaching salty ocean water is ruining pulaka gardens, the main crop, and eroding coconut trees.

And a world leader who fears that his nation will soon sink.

The prime minister of the Pacific island of Tuvalu on Tuesday urged world leaders to fight global warming to save his nation from disappearing under the sea. Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia, who is on an official visit to Taiwan, made the call while visiting a Taipei primary school and telling the school children the importance of protecting the environment.

Kind of a buzzkill after such a funny little note, but hey, if the object is to make people aware, mission accomplished!

Comments

[ranchomerced]

This entire thing is a scam because environmental groups in this island chain are suing so called rich countries that cause global warming with their SUV's. The suit is in the world court to recover damages due to the glabal warming hoax. They are in a big hurry before the jury pool and everyone realises its a fraud.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

What if it sinks completely? Does that mean they lose their top level domain???!

[Calinative]

Nobody would have heard of the place if they didn't hit the internet lottery by being handed ".tv". Everyone there got rich. They'll take their money and move.

How many other islands are sinking that we'll never hear about?

[DrFelch]

No, no, haven't you guys heard? Global warming is some kind of conspiracy that somebody is perpetrating for some reason that is not entirely clear. Why? Who knows, but the oil companies are trying to warn us desperately against being fooled! What nice guys!

[jsgaetano]

It's because all those environmentalists are going to make megabazillions of dollars, somehow, if people believe global warming is real.

What that vehicle to riches is has not been disclosed, however, but Rush assures us it will bring about the end of Western civilization, freedom, and warm fuzzy puppies.

[JBL70]

It would suck to lose your entire island due to rising ocean. I think it's probably to late to stop the damage from climate change at this point.

[valkyrie607]

Already several hundred Tuvaluans have abandoned their home for New Zealand.

[shockmagog]

'There is enough water locked on Greenland alone to raise global sea levels by 23 ft. (7 m) if it melted, which would swamp coastal cities like London and Shanghai and all but wipe away small island states like the Maldives and Tuvalu.'

'We can likely adapt, expensively, to higher temperatures and changing precipitation patterns, but it's difficult to imagine how we could cope with the oceans literally erasing some of our most valuable real estate.'
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1891605,00.html

[Richard2]

The nearest tidal station to Greenland is the Reykjavik, Iceland station. The long term sea level rise at this station is only 2.34 mm per year. If you look at the specific chart for this station, you can see that sea level readings since 2000 have been marginally lower than during the 1985-1995 period.

There is nothing in that Reykjavik station data that indicates any acceleration in sea level rise due to the melting of water locked as ice on Greenland, or anywhere else.

[amdezurik]

do try reading, the post you are reply to at no point claimed Greenlands ice HAD melted, just what it's potential would be if it DID. See how easy english can be when you actually read it? Oh and cutting and pasting random garbage really does not make you look smarter when your post clearly shows you are unable to grasp what was written.