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Things are looking desperate for Kiribati, the tiny island nation in the Pacific. The government is negotiating with Fiji to purchase lands on an island and gradually move their population there, before the rising tides have completely swept away their country because of climate change.
Kiribati has about a hundred thousand people and that may not sound like a big deal, but given the size of those countries (Fiji has 0.8 million people) this looks like a massive exodus indeed. For years the atolls of Kiribati are experiencing rising waters, now a large part of their settlements suffering from periodic floods. Some of the 32 islands of the archipelago are already effectively gone.
If the negotiations are successful, this could be the first climate migration in modern times. Of course, migrations have occurred often in the past between the Pacific islands. But this is something unprecedented in size and consequences, especially in modern history.
The flooding of the islands is not the only problem, though. The saltifying process has brought an enormous problem with fresh water shortages, too. The other problem is that Kiribati does not really have a strong economy, most of its income comes from fish export and some tourism, and they would be in enormous debt if they are to purchase land in another country. But they might have run out of options at this point.
The president Tong is doing his best to persuade Fiji to sell them land on the island Vanua Levu (the 2nd largest in Fiji) where the exiled nation could be hosted. He is smart enough to not opt for advising his people to save themselves separately as they deem appropriate and disperse his nation, but instead he has adopted a national strategy. He says he does not want the Kiribati people to be mere refugees in a foreign country, where they would be seen as second-class people, and potentially suffer from abuse and exploitation. He wants to grant them a decent life. So he has started a qualification program that would raise their skills and make them a valuable asset to their new hosting society, a skilled labour force that could contribute to the Fijian economy instead of hanging on its neck like a burden.
There have been other ideas for salvation in the past, like building artificial islands... but the global financial crisis has made it impossible because that would be too expensive. Now the only option left is to find a new place to move to, before the tides have swallowed their country.
And that is not the only country finding itself in such trouble due to climate change. The Maldives have had this issue for many years, and the 2004 tsunami served as a red light.
Things are looking desperate for Kiribati, the tiny island nation in the Pacific. The government is negotiating with Fiji to purchase lands on an island and gradually move their population there, before the rising tides have completely swept away their country because of climate change.
Kiribati has about a hundred thousand people and that may not sound like a big deal, but given the size of those countries (Fiji has 0.8 million people) this looks like a massive exodus indeed. For years the atolls of Kiribati are experiencing rising waters, now a large part of their settlements suffering from periodic floods. Some of the 32 islands of the archipelago are already effectively gone.
If the negotiations are successful, this could be the first climate migration in modern times. Of course, migrations have occurred often in the past between the Pacific islands. But this is something unprecedented in size and consequences, especially in modern history.
The flooding of the islands is not the only problem, though. The saltifying process has brought an enormous problem with fresh water shortages, too. The other problem is that Kiribati does not really have a strong economy, most of its income comes from fish export and some tourism, and they would be in enormous debt if they are to purchase land in another country. But they might have run out of options at this point.
The president Tong is doing his best to persuade Fiji to sell them land on the island Vanua Levu (the 2nd largest in Fiji) where the exiled nation could be hosted. He is smart enough to not opt for advising his people to save themselves separately as they deem appropriate and disperse his nation, but instead he has adopted a national strategy. He says he does not want the Kiribati people to be mere refugees in a foreign country, where they would be seen as second-class people, and potentially suffer from abuse and exploitation. He wants to grant them a decent life. So he has started a qualification program that would raise their skills and make them a valuable asset to their new hosting society, a skilled labour force that could contribute to the Fijian economy instead of hanging on its neck like a burden.
There have been other ideas for salvation in the past, like building artificial islands... but the global financial crisis has made it impossible because that would be too expensive. Now the only option left is to find a new place to move to, before the tides have swallowed their country.
And that is not the only country finding itself in such trouble due to climate change. The Maldives have had this issue for many years, and the 2004 tsunami served as a red light.
(no subject)
Date: 11/3/12 19:18 (UTC)