For surfers, the ocean is a metaphorical source of life.
For the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu, it has become an existential threat.
A recent video highlighting conditions in the tiny island country offers a sobering look at what many scientists consider the front lines of sea-level rise. Comprised of nine low-lying coral islands scattered across the Pacific Ocean, Tuvalu sits just a few feet above sea level at its highest points.
Now, the ocean is slowly reclaiming that ground.
According to the NASA: “By 2050, Tuvalu could see an order of magnitude increase in the amount of flooding that occurs relative to the past decade. • Beyond 2050, future sea level rise will cause a large increase in the frequency and severity of episodic flooding in Tuvalu within the 21st century.”
NASA added: “Across all future scenarios and under the assumption of no additional protections, Tuvalu will likely experience more than 100 days of flooding every year by the end of the century.”
The impacts are already being felt.
Tuvalu is also one of the most remote and least-visited countries in the world. Check out the video below to see what a vacation to the island looks like:
Saltwater is contaminating freshwater supplies, coastal erosion is eating away at shorelines, and increasingly powerful king tides regularly flood roads, homes, and infrastructure. For a nation of roughly 11,000 people, there is little room to retreat inland because there is no inland. Much of Tuvalu rises only a few meters above the ocean.
Yet Tuvalu is not surrendering.
The government has launched ambitious adaptation projects, including plans to create raised, flood-resistant land and strengthen coastal defenses. Officials are also using advanced mapping technology to better understand how rising seas will affect the islands in the decades ahead.
Prime Minister Feleti Teo recently offered a blunt assessment of the challenge ahead: “If the rise in sea level is not arrested, then the forecast for Tuvalu is quite doomed.”
Related: America’s Most Remote Island: ‘Only 40 People Live Here’ (Video)
Some residents are also considering migration. Under a climate agreement with Australia, Tuvaluans can apply for a special migration pathway as the nation confronts an uncertain future. Thousands have already expressed interest.
Still, many islanders remain determined to stay.
Years ago, Tuvalu’s foreign minister delivered a speech while standing knee-deep in seawater, declaring: “We will not stand idly by as the water rises around us.”
For Tuvalu, that wasn’t a metaphor.
It was a dire, and very real, glimpse of the future.
Related: Inside Earth’s Most Remote Island: ‘Almost Untouched by Humans’
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