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World Geography Unit #10 Asia-Pacific

The Pacific Islands are drowning under rising sea levels. These stunning photos show their precarious way of life.Business Insider•January 28, 2020 insider@insider.com (James Pasley)

Young villagers play in the Pacific Ocean in the village of Waisisi on December 03, 2019 in Tanna, Vanuatu.

Mario Tama / Getty

Pacific Island nations, like Tuvalu and Vanuatu, experience climate change every day.

Warmer waters, coral bleaching, flooding, erosion, and changing weather patterns are changing their way of life.

In 2018, Vanuatu's foreign minister Ralph Regenvanu announced the nation was considering suing fossil fuel companies and the governments that enabled them.

Rising sea levels aren't a distant concern in the Pacific.

The traditional way of life in island nations like Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Fiji, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands is deteriorating because of climate change.

They're experiencing warmer waters, coral bleaching, tidal flooding, erosion, changing weather patterns, and more brutal cyclones. Thousands of people have already fled the region for New Zealand, seeking a new life.

In 2018, Vanuatu's foreign minister, Ralph Regenvanu, said his government was considering suing fossil fuel companies and the governments that enabled them.

He told CNN that the country needed compensation, arguing that it contributed only .0016% of global emissions, but bears the brunt of the effects. In January, he told Business Insider by email, "Investigatory work still proceeding, nothing new to update as of yet, no decisions made yet, still looking at options."

Here's what life is like on Vanuatu and Tuvalu, and the struggles they face as the planet warms and sea levels rise.

For some, living in the Pacific is like walking on a knife's edge. This is Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu, the world's fourth-smallest country.

At points, the island is as narrow as 65 feet wide, according to the United Nations. At its widest, the land measures only about 1,300 feet across.

For others, life is preparing for the next cyclone. This is Vanuatu, which has about 280,000 residents living on 82 islands.

In 2015, it was battered by Cyclone Pam, which caused the island to lose about 64% of its GDP.

Samuel, only his first name given, carries a ball through An aerial view of a strip of land between the Pacific Ocean the ruins of their family home as his father, Phillip, at (BOTTOM) and lagoon on November 27, 2019 in Funafuti, Tuvalu.back, picks through the debris in Port Vila, Vanuatu in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam Monday, March 16, 2015.Dave Hunt / AP Source: Reuters Mario Tama/Getty Source: The Guardian

These islands might look like paradise from above, but up close it's another story.

In 2015, the UN released a report that showed the climate change challenges the Pacific Islands — like Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Fiji, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands — all faced.

Pacific Islands map

Business Insider/Mark Abadi Source: Business Insider

In 2019, another UN report found that glaciers were losing hundreds of billions of tons of ice every year, causing seas to rise faster than previously thought.

There are numerous threats stemming from climate change: warmer temperatures, less rainfall, tidal flooding, coastal erosion, and changing weather patterns, including brutal cyclones.

In 2018, Vanuatu's foreign minister, Ralph Regenvanu, made a call. He announced Vanuatu was considering suing fossil fuel companies and the governments that enabled them.

He told CNN the country needed to be compensated since it contributed .0016% of global emissions, but bore the brunt of the effects. In January he told Business Insider Vanuatu was still investigating its options before taking further action.

Vanuatu's Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu (L) U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks welcoming United Nations Secretary General Antonio at the R20 Austrian World Summit in Vienna, Guterres (R) on the tarmac of Port Vila's international Austria, May 28, 2019. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

airport, the capital of Vanuatu in May 2019.MoreBen Bohane / AFP / Getty Source: CNN

When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Pacific last year, he said it was an existential threat, and the "risks were too real."

He described Tuvalu as"an entire country fighting to preserve its very existence."

Guterres also said Vanuatu was one of "the most disaster-prone countries, made worse by the global climate emergency."

Tuvalu did what it could to draw attention to its plight, too. In 2019, it held the Pacific Islands Forum. Leaders were greeted by a group of children sitting in a moat built around a miniature island, singing, "Save Tuvalu, save the world."

Boys play in floodwaters occurring around high tide in Faitau Teikausi (R) and Pasepa Afele pose at a traditional a low lying area near the airport on November 27, 2019 community celebration on November 25, 2019 in Funafuti, in Funafuti, Tuvalu. Tuvalu.

Mario Tama / Getty Source: The Guardian

Tuvalu and Vanuatu are visceral examples of a global problem. They live and struggle with the actual effects of climate change. They're small, traditional countries surrounded by rising waters.

About 11,000 people live in Tuvalu. The island nation is 10 feet above sea level at its highest point and could be unlivable within 50 to 100 years. Children play on sandbags installed to slow the effects of rising seas.

Boys play in the lagoon on sandbags reinforcing a land An eroded section of coastline sits next to the lagoon, reclamation project, a countermeasure to the rising sea, where a wharf once stood, on November 24, 2019 in on November 24, 2019 in Funafuti, Tuvalu. Funafuti, Tuvalu.

Mario Tama / Getty Source: The Guardian

Erosion isn't just a future problem for insurers. Every year, the islands get smaller. Two out of Tuvalu's nine islands are almost submerged. Leitu Frank told The Guardian, "The sea is eating all the sand."

Fresh water is a concern since rising seas have contaminated many of the islands' groundwater supplies. Tuvalu has the same problem and is now reliant on rain and deliveries. But in the hot Pacific, it doesn't rain often.

Their economies are affected, too. Vanuatu's people make a living mostly from tourism and farming.

For the last 2000 years, the island nation has relied on growing root vegetables like sweet potato, taro, and yams, to eat and sell.

Ruth Nafow (R) cooks corn to sell at a local farmer's market People gather at a local market during the first significanton December 06, 2019 in Tanna, Vanuatu. Asked about rainfall in months in an extended dry season onclimate change, she said, 'It's a really big concern. This will December 6, 2019 in Tanna, Vanuatu.affect our crops in one way or another.'MoreMario Tama/Getty Source: HuffPost Source: The Guardian

But farming is becoming increasingly difficult with droughts and salty soil. Here, a woman somberly watches the first significant amount of rainfall the country had in months, in December.

Many people have had to abandon their gardens, and crops are grown in controlled environments.

Fish, a once-abundant resource, has been affected as well. Fuli Siaosi who works for Tuvalu's fisheries department told The Guardian, "If there is a man in the family, he will most likely go fishing. It's cheap — it's for free!"

A fisherman cuts up a tuna in front of his home on Freshly caught fish are stacked in a bucket on,

November 23, 2019 in Funafuti, Tuvalu. November 23, 2019 in Funafuti, Tuvalu.Mario Tama / Getty Source: The Guardian

But fish aren't always safe.

Bleached coral, from rising water temperatures, has been poisoning fish. It's called Ciguatera poisoning.

Eating poisoned fish can cause fevers and stomach problems. The poisoning became more common about a decade ago, as weather patterns began to change.

Instead, food is shipped in. Along with staples like flour, food that used to be grown on the islands, like taro, is also delivered. But it's not cheap, and far less sustainable than growing crops.

Dealing with trash in such a small space is another difficulty.

Garbage sits at Funafuti's dumpsite on November 23, 2019 A woman rides her scooter through floodwaters occurring in Funafuti, Tuvalu. around high tide in a low lying area near the airport on November 27, 2019 in Funafuti, Tuvalu. Mario Tama / GettyOn Tavalu, it's currently stored in a single dump, close to the ocean on one side and a lagoon on the other.

To help, plastic bags, straws, and styrofoam cups have been banned.

In February 2019, Tavalu announced its ban was expanding to include disposable diapers and plastic cutlery. As Regenvanu said, these small nations didn't cause the problem. But they're trying to alleviate it.

And then there's the psychological effect of rising sea levels. At high tide, low lying areas flood. Residents told The Guardian they had nightmares "that the sea will soon gobble them up for good."

Bubbles percolate from the ground in floodwaters during high tides. A common local saying is, "Tuvalu is sinking."

But it's not all doom and gloom. Locals still celebrate. Here, dancers perform.

Mario Tama / GettyTuvalu gets three commercial flights a week. For the rest of the week, locals make the most of the airport runway, playing and hanging out on the tarmac.

They play volleyball on the white sand.

And they go to church. Vanuatu's main religion is Christianity, and across the islands there are Anglican, Presbyterian and, Roman Catholic churches. According to The Guardian, locals often say, "Come what may, God will save us."

People swim. Which is handy as daily temperatures have risen.

\Already, 2,000 Tuvaluans have moved to New Zealand. It might not sound like much, but adds up when the entire population is 11,000.

But Tuvalu's Prime Minister Enele Sopoago told The Guardian abandoning the islands was the last resort.

He said relocating people from low-lying countries didn't solve the problem. Solutions needed to be found, because it was not a Pacific problem, but a global one.

ARITCLE REVIEW1. Traditional ways of life are deteriorating because of _________________________.

2. Vanuatu’s government is considering suing _______________ & ______________.

3. ______________ is the world’s 4th smallest country.

4. Vanuatu has __________________ residents living on __________ islands.

5. Tuvalu is and entire country fighting to _________________________________.

6. The island of Tuvalu is ________ above sea level at its highest point.

7. Every year Tuvalu’s nine islands get _________________________.

8. Vanuatu's people make a living mostly from ____________ and _______________.

9. Bubbles percolate from the ground in floodwaters during ____________________.

10. It was not a __________________ problem, but a _______________ one.