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

EUR -
AED 3.865039
AFN 71.961868
ALL 97.885367
AMD 409.705534
ANG 1.898038
AOA 960.733931
ARS 1055.061215
AUD 1.613881
AWG 1.894109
AZN 1.787029
BAM 1.951539
BBD 2.126437
BDT 125.855234
BGN 1.956342
BHD 0.396578
BIF 3110.579445
BMD 1.052283
BND 1.414399
BOB 7.293078
BRL 6.086683
BSD 1.053191
BTN 88.848028
BWP 14.387453
BYN 3.446543
BYR 20624.740218
BZD 2.122845
CAD 1.469502
CDF 3014.78969
CHF 0.929776
CLF 0.037101
CLP 1023.776253
CNY 7.619996
CNH 7.625593
COP 4626.455438
CRC 534.824751
CUC 1.052283
CUP 27.885491
CVE 110.024795
CZK 25.350861
DJF 187.538784
DKK 7.458788
DOP 63.520417
DZD 140.573397
EGP 52.274979
ERN 15.78424
ETB 131.306162
FJD 2.388363
FKP 0.830585
GBP 0.832524
GEL 2.883571
GGP 0.830585
GHS 16.7185
GIP 0.830585
GMD 74.71233
GNF 9078.051459
GTQ 8.13025
GYD 220.338958
HKD 8.189863
HNL 26.613518
HRK 7.506205
HTG 138.346648
HUF 411.186809
IDR 16734.714279
ILS 3.929639
IMP 0.830585
INR 88.911049
IQD 1379.588093
IRR 44293.214291
ISK 145.520299
JEP 0.830585
JMD 166.933965
JOD 0.746386
JPY 162.676061
KES 136.007134
KGS 91.02957
KHR 4249.68174
KMF 491.94202
KPW 947.053999
KRW 1471.222726
KWD 0.323672
KYD 0.877684
KZT 523.167824
LAK 23125.51255
LBP 94319.785398
LKR 306.411046
LRD 190.622024
LSL 19.101997
LTL 3.107117
LVL 0.636515
LYD 5.138732
MAD 10.521031
MDL 19.167154
MGA 4930.189594
MKD 61.546561
MMK 3417.773046
MNT 3575.656436
MOP 8.443666
MRU 41.866002
MUR 48.839087
MVR 16.268296
MWK 1826.195708
MXN 21.380416
MYR 4.698412
MZN 67.293799
NAD 19.101997
NGN 1768.455747
NIO 38.755022
NOK 11.613586
NPR 142.154623
NZD 1.792324
OMR 0.40513
PAB 1.053101
PEN 3.996674
PGK 4.239684
PHP 62.126243
PKR 292.773138
PLN 4.342422
PYG 8247.914831
QAR 3.840515
RON 4.977085
RSD 117.020141
RUB 106.281009
RWF 1452.315514
SAR 3.95054
SBD 8.79238
SCR 14.332083
SDG 632.944958
SEK 11.610939
SGD 1.413951
SHP 0.830585
SLE 23.75528
SLL 22065.84631
SOS 601.88026
SRD 37.282669
STD 21780.126598
SVC 9.214882
SYP 2643.891613
SZL 19.091139
THB 36.458458
TJS 11.216013
TMT 3.682989
TND 3.324243
TOP 2.464553
TRY 36.27081
TTD 7.130433
TWD 34.270209
TZS 2791.031424
UAH 43.426878
UGX 3886.514989
USD 1.052283
UYU 45.021709
UZS 13526.469111
VES 48.861031
VND 26751.65603
VUV 124.929112
WST 2.937543
XAF 654.521833
XAG 0.033884
XAU 0.000395
XCD 2.843846
XDR 0.801343
XOF 654.521833
XPF 119.331742
YER 262.991742
ZAR 19.064031
ZMK 9471.810193
ZMW 29.146091
ZWL 338.834589
  • RBGPF

    59.6900

    59.69

    +100%

  • SCS

    -0.0200

    13.07

    -0.15%

  • RIO

    -0.0400

    62.39

    -0.06%

  • CMSC

    -0.0450

    24.52

    -0.18%

  • BCC

    -0.7700

    137.41

    -0.56%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0800

    6.61

    -1.21%

  • JRI

    -0.0300

    13.23

    -0.23%

  • CMSD

    -0.0836

    24.26

    -0.34%

  • VOD

    0.0200

    8.94

    +0.22%

  • RELX

    -0.1800

    45.11

    -0.4%

  • NGG

    -0.3100

    63.27

    -0.49%

  • BCE

    -0.3100

    27

    -1.15%

  • AZN

    -0.6000

    63.2

    -0.95%

  • BTI

    0.1500

    37.08

    +0.4%

  • GSK

    -0.1100

    33.35

    -0.33%

  • BP

    -0.0100

    29.08

    -0.03%

Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice / Photo: Chewy Lin - 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."

F.El-Yamahy--DT