By Evie Miller, Senior Editor
Upon first glance, life looks pretty good for the citizens of Kiribati, the collection of 33 islands found isolated in the Pacific Ocean. Home to just over 110,000 people, the equatorial islands boast idyllic scenery- beautiful, blue seas and cloudless skies-, a hot, tropical climate, and a calm, simple lifestyle.
From just the photograph above, seeing the natural beauty of this nation would make it anyone’s dream to get the chance to live in a place like Kiribati.
However, this dream is rather much of a nightmare. Kiribati is sinking. And fast.
In decades, Kiribati will no longer exist, instead being replaced by the ocean, and a ghost of the country that was once there.
Ever-increasing sea levels, as a consequence of climate change, threaten to erode the islands, increase storm damage, and eventually submerge the whole of Kiribati underwater.
The hundreds of thousands of citizens who live on these islands will lose their home and livelihoods, becoming environmental refugees.
Kiribati is in a physically vulnerable position; the nation is very low-lying, with the highest point on many of the islands being only a few metres above sea level.
With a general rise in tide levels, by about 1.25mm a year, from 1942 to 2012, Kiribati continues to become more and more at risk of the effects of increasing sea level rise, with some impacts already making an appearance.
Besides the looming knowledge that the nation is expected to be submerged underwater, there are other many devastating impacts of the increasing sea levels that are currently affecting, or are expected to, affect Kiribati.
There is now a lack of fresh water available, as what were once reliable water sources are now being polluted by sea incursions and king tides.
Some homes around Eita village, where a lagoon is present, have been isolated, due to the salt water, from increasing frequency and strength of storm surges, and sea incursions.
Coral reefs, which act as natural protection to the islands, will become damaged and degrade. This will put Kiribati in a vulnerable position, as it becomes more exposed to the powers of the sea.
Destruction to crops, copra and coconuts, and disruption to their fishing industry- the main sources of income for Kiribati, will result in major impacts to their economy.
And it is already in a poor economic position, being classed as ‘a least developed nation’ by the United Nations, and in a ‘fragile’ position by the World Bank.
Being one of the world’s poorest nations, and suffering first hand the consequences of climate change, Kiribati needs all the help that it can get.
In response to trying to reduce the extent of this devastating future, a number of different projects have been implemented.
To try and bid time Kiribati is replanting its mangroves (natural barriers to the increasing effects of sea level rise), building sea walls (man-made structures which aim to reduce the impacts of coastal flooding and storm surge) and developing water management plans for the outer islands, as the risk of losing fresh water supply continues to increase.
The project of Kiribati Vision 20 looks 20 years into the future. It aims to use the money generated from tourism and fishing to reduce poverty, increase employment and improve education.
To try and improve its economic position, the nation has also seen a double the size of its copra- a big source of its income.
The government launched and promoted ‘Migration with Dignity’, an initiative which aims to create a more skilled workforce, and urge its citizens to move abroad, with these employment skills, where possible.
This helps relieve the pressure on resources for Kiribati at present, and also helps improve the economy. Money made by its people who are working abroad can be sent back as remittance, helping to improve Kiribati's economic position, and work towards a future where it can help reduce the scale of the devastation that will come with the islands’ expected submergence.
Almost 6000 acres of land in Fiji have also been bought by Kiribati’s government, as a place for food security, and as a future potential location for refuge, as Kiribati inevitably aims to eventually move its population elsewhere.
Fiji is still vulnerable to the effects of increasing sea level rise, but it is of a higher elevation, and has a more stabilised shoreline, so is currently at less of a risk.
Aiming to successfully move all of Kiribati’s citizens will be difficult, with many people reluctant to move away from what is their home. Finding new places in which all of these hundreds of thousands of people can call home will be challenging, but with resilience and determination, many believe that it can be done.
Many people are being offered resettlement by New Zealand, and through ‘Migration with Dignity’ a number of Kiribati’s citizens have found employment abroad.
The eventual submergence of Kiribati well within this century seems more than likely, with some experts saying that the nation has until 2050, when the islands will become uninhabitable.
Although Kiribati is now destined for future environmental devastation, because of global warming, we can all work together to relieve the scale of the impacts of increasing sea levels to the islands.
We can also prevent further damage to the rest of our world, if we all work together to reduce the rate at which sea levels are rising.
Kiribati is just one nation that is suffering the consequences of climate change.
Many other Pacific islands are also under the same threat, including Tahiti and Bora Bora, as well as other nations, such as the Maldives in the Indian Ocean.
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