Are we facing a modern Atlantis?
By Joe Wilkins
Location: Wales, UK
Joe Wilkins is an environmentalist and ocean-lover, with a background in ecosystem ecology and a passion to achieve greater youth involvement and empowerment in conservation.
Throughout history, many civilizations have created stories related to a sunken kingdom that was suddenly flooded by the sea, often with some basis in real events. From punishment by the gods to a drunken gate warden leaving his duties to indulge himself, each story is centered around greed and irresponsibility. Could there be something to learn about our future from these past stories? Joe Wilkins explores two of the many deluge stories from around the world and their relevance today…
From the earliest traces of civilization, the sea and water have played an integral role in people's lives and stories: a benevolent provider, an uncrossable barrier, a destructive force. The ocean has captured our imagination since the beginning.
When looking through the history of different civilisations and their stories, one would be highly likely to find a ‘deluge’ story of an entire settlement/region/nation being flooded by the sea.
Of course, the most well-known of these is Plato’s Atlantis, an advanced and utopian society that suddenly fell out of favour with the gods due to its inhabitants' greed and corruption. This is a story that has captured people’s imaginations, even in modern times. Aquaman, one of the world’s most famous (and debated) superheroes, has the title of King of Atlantis - ensuring that the legend will live on with a new generation of people.
Though the most well-known globally, Atlantis is not the only sunken kingdom said to be sitting at the bottom of the ocean. Let’s visit two different sunken kingdoms and stories of flooding from around the world…
Cantre’r Gwaelod
I would hazard a guess that very few readers have heard the story of Cantre’r Gwaelod, but this is the story with which I am most familiar. Ask any pupil in a school in Wales to name a sunken kingdom and I would bet my house that Cantre’r Gwaelod would come before Atlantis.
Cantre’r Gwaelod (The Low/Bottom Hundreds) was said to occupy the area that the beautiful Cardigan Bay now fills. An extremely fertile tract of land protected from the sea by a series of walls and levees, which contained sluice gates that were opened to allow the land to drain, under the watchful eye of gatekeepers. Or so they thought.
Seithenyn was one of the gatekeepers responsible for ensuring the gates were closed before high tide to prevent the flooding of the land. Unfortunately, he was also a famous drunk and a man known for his immense greed. According to the legend, he decided to attend a party held by the King, Gwyddno Garanhir. As a result of this, the gates were left open and the great kingdom was lost to the sea.
Whilst these stories may hold little truth, there is no denying that Cardigan Bay was once an area of land. The famous sunken forests of Ynyslas and Borth, exposed at low tide, are evidence of this. Isn’t the overlap between science and mythology fascinating? Often these seemingly far-fetched stories have firm foundations in real-life events. Did the Cantre’r Gwaelod of mythology exist? Possibly not. Was there an area of land lost to sea-level rise? Almost certainly. The fact that a story has developed around these real-life events shows that we have long associated natural disasters with greed and irresponsibility...a point I will revisit later.
From a drunken gatekeeper to divine intervention, we now travel to southern Asia.
Shraddhadeva Manu
Whilst I was researching global deluge stories from around the world for this article, one of the most captivating was the story of Shraddhadeva Manu and the Matsya avatar of Vishnu.
Shraddhadeva Manu was a king in Hindu mythology. Though the exact contents of the story vary, in short, Lord Vishnu appeared before him and warned of a great flood that was coming to purge the world of its evil. Notice the linking of a flood again as a response (punishment, even) for evil and greed.
The king heeded this warning and built a large boat that saved his family, several animals and plants, and the Saptarishi (ancient sages). Once the water had fulfilled its role, they receded and the king, his family, and the Saptarishi went about repopulating the world, free from greed and evil.
This story shares many similarities with that of Noah and the Ark, a story from the Bible. This is evidence of the recurring deluge myths within various world religions and civilisations. A story of greed, punishment, and mercy, it shares recurring themes with many stories with water playing the role of the great purifier and redeemer.
But how do these stories relate to the modern-day?
Both of the myths above, and many others I have not discussed, have a common theme: human greed being the cause of a devastating disaster. While the circumstances may change, the threat of human activity on the earth has transcended time, era, and culture. Here we explore how the stories can be translated to real-life situations in the modern era - a time without divine interventions and second chances.
While a higher power may have intervened in the story of Shraddhedava Manu, today’s flood is being caused directly by humans. Unfortunately, those who make the decisions for our environment are motivated by money, which isn’t always conducive to the health of the planet. Detrimental decisions are made with little consideration for the impacts on our ocean, people, and the planet.
Increasing greed and consumption are altering our ocean in terms of its biology, chemistry, and geography. As we are all probably aware, the sea levels are rising globally, but before we get to that, it is worth mentioning the other impacts we are having on our oceans due to the destructive and greedy actions of a few.
Direct impacts and exploitation of our oceans can lead to devastating impacts. The most damaging would include the decimation of the seabed by bottom trawling; the unknown but undeniable risk that deep-sea mining will pose; and our overexploitation of the ocean’s natural resources.
Whilst these direct activities are impacting parts of our oceans; we are also impacting the ocean on a global scale. The ocean’s magnificent conveyor belt of currents and wind, whilst vital to life on our planet, ensures that the impact of our actions is distributed across the world.
The ocean does not exist in isolation; it is involved in complex relationships and feedback with the land and the atmosphere. As we increase atmospheric carbon dioxide through the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transport, we are increasing the acidity of the oceans.
While this is devastating for many, the most relevant issue to this article is global sea-level rise. As a result of rising temperatures from the increased greenhouse effect, we are causing increased melting of glaciers and ice caps and the expansion of the water. The feedback loops are now in a vicious cycle which is leading to the encroachment of the oceans onto the land...a modern deluge.
While many places around the world may lack the dramatic threat of the deluge expressed in the myths and legends, it is a reality for some island nations. They are experiencing the rapid disappearance of their homes and communities. We are already seeing cases of communities and entire nations (such as Tuvalu or the Solomon Islands in the Pacific) being lost to the sea, yet most of them have had very little impact on the global oceans and lack the resources to prevent the incoming tide. In the stories, those responsible for the greed and destruction were held accountable; today, others are punished for our actions. In other words, in today’s deluge, it is often those least responsible for the changing sea that are facing the greatest threats.
In modern times we are facing a displaced Atlantis or an Atlantis-by-proxy.
In the Global North, there is a disconnect between our actions and the impacts they have on the planet. Though we are the biggest contributors to the issue, we will not feel the impacts for many years. But this is far from the reality for many in the world and is expressed in an eye-opening quote on Twitter that encapsulated this issue. To paraphrase* Eric Roston:
If you’re asking when sea level rise is going to “happen”, you’re really asking when it’s going to happen to “me”, because it’s already happened to many other people.
*climate change replaced with sea-level rise
As an example bringing these two thoughts together, the Solomon Islands emitted 341,748 tonnes of carbon dioxide (less than 0.0001% of global emissions), yet they are facing some of the most serious threats from sea level rise. A 2016 study by researchers from the University of Queensland found that several islands had disappeared within the current generations’ lifetime and many others were experiencing coastal recession. And this is not a one-off! Other islands in the Pacific and around the world are experiencing similar threats from sea level rise, threatening the social-ecological systems of many regions.
Science vs. Stories
So, if science is showing this trend and predicting our future, should that not be enough to convince us to change our behavior? Why am I bringing up stories from the past and mythology and trying to relate them to our present situation?
Issues of environmental change can be difficult to grasp. We are bombarded with data, numbers, and warnings every day about the impending disaster that sea-level rise will cause to many around the world. Yet, it is very easy to disconnect oneself from numbers and data.
On the other hand, stories are engaging and can be incredibly powerful tools in conveying messages to people. Comparing the modern-day situation with stories of the past provides an interesting intersection between science, history, and culture and can allow many more to engage with the impacts of sea-level rise.
Are the great deluge stories of the past repeating themselves? Yes, and we should learn from them and heed their warning. Greed by a few is devastating the lives of many and something must be done to prevent this from occurring again. Much like Seithenyn of Cantre’r Gwaelod, a large proportion of humanity appears to be drunkenly walking away from its responsibilities and partying whilst disaster looms. Whilst this flood may be happening slower, it is no less damaging. And whilst the stories discuss the devastation of civilisations and regions, we are seeing this occurring around the world, on a truly global scale.