Climate change threatens Kiribati
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC NATION OF KIRIBATI MAY BE ONE OF THE FIRST IN LINE TO BE WIPED OUT BY THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
The central Pacific nation of Kiribati has a few claims to fame. Its flag-bearer at the past two summer Olympics won international attention and became a meme because of his memorable dancing. The country — known under British colonial rule as the Gilbert Islands (the name Kiribati, pronounced KIHree-bahs, is a local transliteration of “Gilberts”) — has 33 islands spread over more than 3.3 million square kilometres making it one of the world’s largest nations in terms of sea area, though one of the smallest in terms of land.
But what it gets the most attention for these days is impending doom: The nation may be one of the first in line to be wiped out by the effects of climate change.
In the century to come, we’re likely to see dramatic changes to the physical shape of the world as we know it, thanks to rising sea levels and other environmental changes. But the immediate challenges faced by most countries pale in comparison to those of Kiribati, which has an average elevation of less than two metres. The atoll of Tarawa, where nearly half the country’s 110,000 residents live, could soon be substantially underwater.
“By 2050, 18-80 per cent of the land in Buariki, North Tarawa, and up to 50 per cent of the land in Bikenibeu, South Tarawa could become inundated,” the government told the United Nations in 2015. “The results of sea level rise and increasing storm surge threaten the very existence and livelihoods of large segments of the population.”