The China Mail - Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice

USD -
AED 3.67302
AFN 68.25057
ALL 83.483156
AMD 381.28666
ANG 1.789699
AOA 917.000079
ARS 1331.517198
AUD 1.533989
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.701624
BAM 1.678416
BBD 2.011225
BDT 121.225644
BGN 1.67595
BHD 0.377008
BIF 2970.239245
BMD 1
BND 1.281665
BOB 6.898002
BRL 5.460296
BSD 0.996082
BTN 87.455643
BWP 13.436429
BYN 3.278753
BYR 19600
BZD 2.000841
CAD 1.373185
CDF 2890.000319
CHF 0.80513
CLF 0.02484
CLP 974.449633
CNY 7.18315
CNH 7.18171
COP 4044
CRC 504.348796
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 94.626544
CZK 21.049902
DJF 177.384543
DKK 6.39439
DOP 60.621404
DZD 130.329582
EGP 48.458546
ERN 15
ETB 138.442414
EUR 0.85684
FJD 2.253799
FKP 0.751467
GBP 0.74803
GEL 2.697767
GGP 0.751467
GHS 10.509197
GIP 0.751467
GMD 72.501278
GNF 8640.311728
GTQ 7.643755
GYD 208.398948
HKD 7.849455
HNL 26.182027
HRK 6.455199
HTG 130.732754
HUF 341.080505
IDR 16297.85
ILS 3.43782
IMP 0.751467
INR 87.689003
IQD 1304.93922
IRR 42124.999693
ISK 122.350144
JEP 0.751467
JMD 159.191257
JOD 0.709001
JPY 147.258498
KES 128.901322
KGS 87.449956
KHR 3990.988091
KMF 422.49885
KPW 899.94784
KRW 1382.949742
KWD 0.30545
KYD 0.830112
KZT 535.217311
LAK 21550.46277
LBP 89250.942919
LKR 299.682905
LRD 199.72281
LSL 17.746006
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 5.421084
MAD 9.036657
MDL 16.918898
MGA 4406.722934
MKD 52.80344
MMK 2099.311056
MNT 3591.43546
MOP 8.053619
MRU 39.734309
MUR 45.350304
MVR 15.405187
MWK 1727.246592
MXN 18.59456
MYR 4.228506
MZN 63.960054
NAD 17.746006
NGN 1525.150182
NIO 36.657011
NOK 10.16617
NPR 139.928686
NZD 1.679882
OMR 0.384488
PAB 0.996082
PEN 3.542113
PGK 4.136416
PHP 57.210499
PKR 282.843731
PLN 3.660896
PYG 7460.963815
QAR 3.631534
RON 4.347702
RSD 100.350056
RUB 80.000386
RWF 1440.873964
SAR 3.752576
SBD 8.217066
SCR 14.635046
SDG 600.507518
SEK 9.604135
SGD 1.283585
SHP 0.785843
SLE 23.103011
SLL 20969.503947
SOS 569.31256
SRD 37.035999
STD 20697.981008
STN 21.025441
SVC 8.715614
SYP 13001.372255
SZL 17.742745
THB 32.299026
TJS 9.31359
TMT 3.51
TND 2.935899
TOP 2.342099
TRY 40.682075
TTD 6.75297
TWD 29.816023
TZS 2472.503383
UAH 41.441389
UGX 3556.272608
UYU 39.974254
UZS 12476.132039
VES 128.747751
VND 26215
VUV 119.124121
WST 2.771506
XAF 562.925172
XAG 0.026298
XAU 0.000296
XCD 2.70255
XCG 1.795214
XDR 0.700098
XOF 562.925172
XPF 102.345818
YER 240.449806
ZAR 17.74998
ZMK 9001.199098
ZMW 22.935654
ZWL 321.999592
  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • JRI

    0.0800

    13.34

    +0.6%

  • BCE

    -0.3100

    23.25

    -1.33%

  • NGG

    0.0200

    72.3

    +0.03%

  • CMSD

    0.0300

    23.54

    +0.13%

  • BCC

    -3.8500

    82.92

    -4.64%

  • GSK

    -0.5700

    36.75

    -1.55%

  • RBGPF

    1.0800

    76

    +1.42%

  • RIO

    0.3900

    60.09

    +0.65%

  • CMSC

    -0.1200

    22.95

    -0.52%

  • SCS

    0.0300

    15.99

    +0.19%

  • RYCEF

    0.1700

    14.5

    +1.17%

  • VOD

    0.2000

    11.3

    +1.77%

  • BTI

    0.5600

    56.4

    +0.99%

  • AZN

    -0.8800

    73.6

    -1.2%

  • RELX

    -1.7800

    48.81

    -3.65%

  • BP

    0.2800

    33.88

    +0.83%

Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice / Photo: © AFP/File

Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice

Rising waters are slowly but steadily swallowing Carnie Riemers's backyard in the Marshall Islands, pushing her toward an agonizing choice: stay in the only home she's ever known or leave and face the prospect of becoming a climate refugee.

Text size:

"It's not a comfortable topic to talk about," the 22-year-old activist tells AFP, explaining the emotional toll this looming reality has on the wider community, who are grappling with similar threats.

"We're deeply rooted in our country, and we don't want to be displaced or forced to live somewhere else -- it would be hard to preserve our culture."

Climate change is dramatically reshaping life in Pacific Island nations, leaving them ever more vulnerable to storm surges, saltwater contamination, ruined crops, and relentless coastal erosion.

"Every day it's a constant battle," says Grace Malie, a 25-year-old from Tuvalu, the tiny archipelago facing the grim prospect of becoming the first nation to be rendered unlivable by global warming.

Speaking to AFP from the Climate Mobility Summit, held on the sidelines of the United Nations annual meeting, Malie recalls how her community was forced to ration just a few buckets of water among large extended families during a drought two years ago.

The freshwater "lenses" beneath Tuvalu's atolls, once tapped through wells, were contaminated by rising seas years ago, leaving the nation's 11,000 residents reliant on rainwater. Even their crops now grow in boxes rather than in the salt-poisoned ground.

This past February, storm waters surged from the lagoon on Tuvalu's main island, Funafuti, flooding roads and seeping into homes.

It wasn't even a tropical cyclone, says Malie -- just a regular storm -- but with higher sea levels now, any storm has the potential to wreak havoc.

- 'Matter of survival ' -

Since the start of the 20th century, global mean sea levels have risen faster than at any time in the last 3,000 years, a direct result of land ice melt and seawater expansion from planetary heating, experts say.

According to NASA's latest projections, Pacific Island nations will experience at least 15 centimeters of sea level rise in the next 30 years.

"It's the difference between flooding a few times a year, or none a year, to 30 times a year, 60 times a year, or every other day," Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, who directs ocean physics programs for NASA's Earth Science Division, told AFP.

Even King Tides -- extra high tides caused by new or full moons -- now cause mayhem in the Marshall Islands, according to Riemers, flooding schools and blocking access to the airport.

While some Marshallese have already emigrated, forming a sizable diaspora in some places, such as the US state of Arkansas, Riemers says they only truly feel at home when they return to the islands, reconnecting with their people.

There's even talk of relocating the capital, Majuro, where Riemers lives with her family. The young activist sees a future for herself shaping these crucial discussions.

Tuvalu's situation might be even more precarious. By 2050 -- just 26 years from now -- more than half of the capital's land area will be regularly flooded, a figure set to rise to 95 percent by 2100, according to official estimates.

"For us, it's a matter of survival," Prime Minister Feleti Teo, who is helping lead diplomatic efforts to preserve the sovereignty of low-lying island nations even as they risk being submerged.

Last year, Teo signed a landmark treaty with Australia, paving the way for more Tuvaluans to obtain permanent residency there when the agreement takes effect.

Malie knows of several families who have already relocated to New Zealand and Australia, but for others, the idea of leaving is still "very taboo."

Her grandparents, for instance, have vowed to remain on the islands as long as possible -- a sentiment she shares.

"We don't want to think of the worst, because if we do, it will diminish our hopes."

W.Cheng--ThChM