Sunday, December 24, 2006 The Independent reports that an inhabited island has been completely submerged for the first time as a result of rising sea levels caused by global warming. The disappearance of the island of Lohachara, part of West Bengal‘s Sundarbans and once home to over ten thousand people, is a milestone in some of climate scientists’ darker predictions. The first uninhabited islands recorded to have disappeared were part of the Pacific atoll nation of Kiribati, and were submerged over eight years ago. However, the disappearance of Lohachara and the displacement of its ten thousand residents was unprecedented. Refugees from Lohachara and the nearby island of Ghoramara fled to…