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Nov 25, 2013 Lying just two metres above sea level at its highest points, the island nation of Kiribati is the poster child for climate change, with predictions that many of the 32 islands in the group could be lost to the sea in the next 50 years. Sinking Islands, Floating Nation Rising sea levels are forcing the nation of Kiribati to make difficult choices. This is coming, and it is going to destroy our lives. So we cannot afford to stand.
The evidence of the is now undeniable. But state responses to climate change often have motivations, rather than addressing the realities of this threat.There has been a backlash against this lack of impetus in recent times by groups such as Extinction Rebellion, which highlights the need for significant action by wealthy states. These wealthy, industrialised nations – and largely headquartered within them, according to one report – have been the largest drivers of climate change via fossil fuel emissions, while baulking at global agreements to provide meaningful to developing countries.You might also like:.The idea of has long existed as a way to describe future. But the reality is that these threats affect life in such places today.
Many small islands states have chosen to reintroduce previously unpopular resettlement and in the face of climate change.This is the story of Kiritimati (pronounced Ki-ri-si-mas) in the mid-Pacific – the coral atoll in the world. A closer look at the story of this particular island sheds light on the issues facing those living in similar locations all around the world, and the inadequacy of current international policy.
Kiritimati has a dark past of British colonialism and nuclear weapons testing. It gained independence from the UK on 12 July 1979, when the Republic of Kiribati was established to govern a group of 33 islands that straddle the equator in the area.
Now, a complex threat is appearing over the horizon.Raised no more than two metres above sea level at its highest point, Kiritimati is one of the most inhabited islands on the planet. It is at the centre of the world, yet most people could not pinpoint it on a map, and know little about the and of its people.This culture may be set to disappear. Of all relocations in Kiribati – whether between islands or internationally – are attributed to environmental change. And a 2016 UN report has shown that on Kiritimati. Rising sea levels also pose challenges to the on small island states – a hangover from their colonial past. Those who have moved become: people who have been forced to leave their home due to the effects of severe climate events and to rebuild their lives in other places, having lost their culture, community, and decision-making power.This problem will only intensify. Intensifying storms and weather-related events have displaced an average of, and the World Bank estimates that another in just three regions: sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America.On Kiritimati, a few mechanisms have been created to help islanders.
For example, the Kiribati government has implemented a programme, “”, with the aim of creating a skilled workforce able to find good employment abroad. The government has also purchased 6,000 acres on Fiji in 2014 to try and ensure as the environment changes. New Zealand has also created an annual opportunity lottery called the. This lottery is presented as a way for 75 Kiribati citizens per year to resettle in New Zealand. Understandably, people do not want to leave their homes, families and lives.The World Bank and the UN, meanwhile, have argued that Australia and New Zealand should and allow open migration for citizens of Kiritimati, in light of climate change affects. But seasonal work is often menial and offers few prospects for a better life.While well-intentioned international policy is predominantly focused simply on relocation, rather than providing adaptive capacity and, these options still do not offer true self-determination for the people of Kiritimati.
They tend to commodify people, reducing their relocation to reemployment plans. It also means that beneficial local projects, such as the, a permanent housing programme and a new strategy could soon become redundant. Realistic and affordable strategies to reclaim and maintain the island’s land are needed to prevent migration from becoming a necessity.Rising upEncouraging the population to migrate is of course the option with the lowest costs. But we should not fall into the trap of thinking it is the only option.
We don’t need to allow this island to drown.This is not just a human issue – abandoning this island to the sea would also eventually condemn a bird species found nowhere else on Earth, the or Kiritimati reed warbler, to global extinction. Other small island states whose existence is threatened by rising sea levels are also home to species at risk of extinction. The Marshall Islands, for example, are home to the coconut crab, which can only be hunted and eaten by the local inhabitants. International aid could resolve many future problems and preserve this astonishing and beautiful place for humans, nonhuman animals and plants, but the lack of support from wealthy nations makes options like this difficult for residents of small island states to consider. Artificial islands have been created in – why not here? Many other options exist, such as and technologies.
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Such options could protect the homeland of the Kiritimati people while also enhancing the resilience of these places – if international aid were more readily and from the nations that have driven this climate crisis.At the time of writing, there is neither an internationally recognised definition of the, nor are they covered by the. This maintains a, as environmental degradation is not defined as “persecution”. This is despite climate change arising largely due to the of, as well as their negligence in combating its stark consequences.The on 23 September 2019 may begin to address some of these. But for the millions of people who live in places that are threatened by climate change, the question is about environmental and climate justice. This question should be not just about whether climate change hazards are being addressed – but why those who want to continue to live on small island states often do not have the resources or autonomy to address climate change and other themselves.This article on The Conversation, and is republished under a Creative Commons licence.-Join one million Future fans by liking us on, or follow us on or.If you liked this story, called “The Essential List”.
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This article was originally published on. Read the.At first glance, it may not seem so, but the story of the now-vanished island of Nahlapenlohd, a couple of miles south of Pohnpei Island in Micronesia, holds some valuable lessons about recent climate change in the western Pacific.In 1850, Nahlapenlohd was so large that not only did it support a sizable coconut forest, but it was able to accommodate a memorable battle between the rival kingdoms of Kitti and Madolenihmw. The skirmish was the first in Pohnpeian history to involve the European sailor-mercenaries known as and to be fought with imported weapons like cannons and muskets.Today the island is no more. The oral histories tell that so much blood was spilled in this fierce battle that it stripped the island of all its vegetation, causing it to beneath the waves.Like many oral tales, this one tries to explain island disappearance post-1850 by making reference to a historical event. But in light of what we know today, the more plausible cause of the island's disappearance is the sea level rise in the western Pacific since the early 19th century, which has. The disappearance of islands in the Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific has. Further north, the same is true of several reef islands off Pohnpei.
The island of Laiap has shrunk since 2007. NunnWhy are islands in the western Pacific becoming the earliest casualties of sea level rise? Partly because sea levels in this region have risen at two to three times the global average over the past few decades.In parts of Micronesia, sea level has, far outpacing the global average of 3.1 mm a year.
While this rate is unlikely to be sustained indefinitely, the current trend would raise sea levels by a further 30 to 40 cm (11.8 to 15.7 inches) by mid-century if it were to continue.What's more, reef islands are particularly vulnerable to erosion by rising seas, being made almost entirely of sand and gravel. Whole islands—even some island nations with which we are familiar today—are likely to be rendered uninhabitable or even disappear within the next 30 years. These include islands in nations like Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Tokelau and Tuvalu, as well as some in other island nations that comprise mostly larger islands, such as the Federated States of Micronesia, of which Pohnpei is one. Armored islandsYet we should note that not all of Pohnpei's reef islands are disappearing, at least not at the same rate, and some have fortuitously evolved protection that will likely help them outlive their neighbors.The coasts of some islands—like Kehpara and Nahlap—are 'armored' by beaches of huge boulders left there by large storms, often along their most exposed coasts. Other reef islands off Pohnpei's leeward coast, such as Dawahk, are becoming 'skeletonized' as waves wash across the island removing the sand and leaving only rocks, held in place by a maze of giant mangrove roots.Whether or not the islands themselves succumb or survive, sea level rise is a clear threat to their habitability for humans. Short-term interventions—either natural fortifications such as boulder beaches, or human-built defenses such as seawalls—are unlikely to change the long-term outcome.This underscores the fact that low-lying reef islands are transient—most Pacific reef islands after sea levels fell and sediment began to pile up on exposed reef platforms.
The sea will remove today's islands, just as it has washed away countless others before.But, of course, we cannot ignore the human dimension. While only a few dozen people today call the reef islands of Pohnpei home, they are similar to many larger reef islands in Micronesia from which people may well be involuntarily displaced during the next few decades. Where these people might go, and how they can be accommodated in ways that preserve their dignity as well as their, are very real questions for community leaders. The low-lying island of Kiribati is expected to be lost to sea level rise in the near future.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade/FlickrPeople first reached the islands of Micronesia from the Philippines, after an unbroken ocean crossing of 2,300 km (1,430 miles). It's an extraordinary achievement when you consider that people in most other parts of the world at that time rarely sailed out of sight of land. To have survived on islands in the middle of the ocean for more than three millennia, Micronesians and other Pacific Islanders must have developed considerable resilience.On high islands in Micronesia, the evidence for this is manifest. Ancient stonework constructions line many parts of the coastline, testament to a long history of resisting shoreline change, and sometimes of.Perhaps nowhere is more evocative of this today than Nan Madol, a megalithic complex built 1,000 years ago on 93 artificial islands off southeast Pohnpei.
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There are many explanations about why Nan Madol was created. Perhaps the truth is that it is an expression of dogged human resilience—one of hundreds along Micronesian coasts—in the face of an unruly nature.I thank my co-researchers on the project focused on Pohnpei's reef islands, Augustine Kohler from the Department of National Archives, Culture and Historic Preservation of the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia, and my colleague Roselyn Kumar from the University of the Sunshine Coast's Sustainability Research Centre.is Professor of Geography, Sustainability Research Centre at the, Australia.
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