tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/atolls-73556/articlesatolls – The Conversation2021-09-16T15:32:17Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1679642021-09-16T15:32:17Z2021-09-16T15:32:17ZCoastal flooding could save atoll islands from rising seas – but only if their reefs remain healthy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421333/original/file-20210915-17-1g4karz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C221%2C3994%2C2772&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-aerial-view-tropical-atoll-marshall-1393520135">big sea/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Communities living on coral atoll islands, which rarely rise more than four metres above the surface of the sea, face a strange paradox. </p>
<p>On the one hand, these islands are among the most sensitive to the effects of climate change, with sea-level rise and potentially increasing storminess expected to make coastal flooding events more frequent and intense. On the other hand, when waves overwash such islands during extreme weather events, new sediment from their surrounding coral reefs is typically deposited on the island, increasing its elevation.</p>
<p>So while the process of wave overtopping can be very disruptive and damaging to island communities, it also seems to nurture the long-term resilience of these islands, enabling them to persist despite rising sea levels. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/24/eaay3656.full">recent study</a>, conducted alongside coastal scientist Eddie Beetham, suggests that hugely disruptive and potentially life-threatening extreme weather events may actually be required for the long-term survival of atoll islands and their communities.</p>
<p>But the sediment required to make this happen is derived from coral reefs, which are also <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1676">under threat</a> from climate change. While damage to coral reefs may actually benefit atoll islands with increased coral detritus over the next ten years, long-term damage to the coral reef ecosystem, over the coming decades, will leave atoll islands without enough sediment to naturally adapt to sea-level rise.</p>
<h2>Making an atoll island</h2>
<p>About a million people live on coral atoll islands, with about half of these confined to the atoll island nations of Kiribati, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu. </p>
<p>All atoll islands are low-lying, commonly less than two metres above sea level. They’re composed of the sediment that washes up from the living coral reef platforms that surround them, with material gradually deposited on the island’s shoreline by wave and tide-generated currents.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421211/original/file-20210914-13-cmxsjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram of a typical atoll island's structure" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421211/original/file-20210914-13-cmxsjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421211/original/file-20210914-13-cmxsjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=217&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421211/original/file-20210914-13-cmxsjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=217&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421211/original/file-20210914-13-cmxsjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=217&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421211/original/file-20210914-13-cmxsjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421211/original/file-20210914-13-cmxsjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421211/original/file-20210914-13-cmxsjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Atoll islands are built upon coral reefs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gerd Masselink/Jamie Quinn</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The reef platform is usually located around the low tide level. Because this acts as a natural wave barrier, coral reefs offer atoll islands <a href="https://theconversation.com/coral-reefs-work-as-natures-sea-walls-it-pays-to-look-after-them-26655">significant protection</a> against energetic wave action. Nevertheless, atoll islands are episodically overwashed by strong waves, leading to nuisance flooding and even complete island inundation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sand washed up an island's beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421314/original/file-20210915-20-16hpr58.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421314/original/file-20210915-20-16hpr58.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421314/original/file-20210915-20-16hpr58.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421314/original/file-20210915-20-16hpr58.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421314/original/file-20210915-20-16hpr58.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421314/original/file-20210915-20-16hpr58.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421314/original/file-20210915-20-16hpr58.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Overwash from powerful waves deposits sediment on an island’s shoreline.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Simon Kench</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And as the sea level rises, flooding events on atoll islands are expected to become more frequent and extreme. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/">recently suggested</a> that sea levels will rise 0.44-0.76 metres by 2100 according to their “middle-of-the-road emission scenario”. <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/4/eaap9741.full">A study</a> published in 2018 predicted that sea-level rise could render most atoll islands uninhabitable by the middle of this century.</p>
<p>But that study’s gloomy outlook only considered the adverse effects of overwash and not its potential island-building benefits. When overwashed onto the shoreline, sediment from coral reefs can increase an island’s elevation. This sediment can also be reworked from the island shoreline, reducing an island’s width but increasing its height. Both processes take place relative to sea-level rise, which means atoll islands should rise at roughly the same rate as the sea itself.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421350/original/file-20210915-20-1p766e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four diagramatic examples of atoll island growth" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421350/original/file-20210915-20-1p766e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421350/original/file-20210915-20-1p766e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=79&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421350/original/file-20210915-20-1p766e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=79&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421350/original/file-20210915-20-1p766e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=79&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421350/original/file-20210915-20-1p766e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=99&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421350/original/file-20210915-20-1p766e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=99&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421350/original/file-20210915-20-1p766e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=99&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Atoll islands adapt to rising sea levels in four main ways.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Simon Kench/Jamie Quinn</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All this relies upon waves, storms and floods. One recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/maldives-climate-change-could-actually-help-coral-islands-rise-again-but-theyre-still-at-risk-106586">study</a> suggested that the Maldives were first created during a period with higher-than-present sea levels and larger waves. Climate change and sea level rise could recreate the environmental conditions under which these islands first formed.</p>
<h2>Living with rising seas</h2>
<p>Atoll island communities nevertheless face the prospect of becoming climate change refugees. To mitigate the threat of rising seas, some atoll islands have been building coastal defences to prevent further flooding. This is the default option for densely populated atoll islands such as Malé, the capital of the Maldives. But coastal protection is expensive and requires regular upkeep in line with rising sea levels. Assuming the coastal defences are effective in preventing island flooding, this also means that overwash and islands adjustment cannot take place. </p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-20-foot-sea-wall-wont-save-miami-how-living-structures-can-help-protect-the-coast-and-keep-the-paradise-vibe-165076">A 20-foot sea wall won’t save Miami – how living structures can help protect the coast and keep the paradise vibe</a>
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<p>Accepting that flooding provides a natural mechanism for island elevation rise opens up an alternative set of adaptation strategies. But this means exposing islands to disruptive and dangerous weather, from which their communities, infrastructure and fresh water sources must be protected. </p>
<p>That could be achieved by transitioning the infrastructure of islands to one that is dynamic and flood-proof so it can move with the evolving island. Homes could be constructed on stilts, reflecting historic cultural adaptations. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/maldives-floating-city-2653145087.html">Floating complexes</a> of homes could even be built. It’s also possible to assist the island’s natural adaptation mechanism by supplying the island with additional sediment, referred to as <a href="https://theconversation.com/giant-sandscaping-plan-to-save-norfolk-coast-will-only-put-off-the-inevitable-121346">sandscaping</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="three people working on a shoreline" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421215/original/file-20210914-25-jbertf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421215/original/file-20210914-25-jbertf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421215/original/file-20210914-25-jbertf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421215/original/file-20210914-25-jbertf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421215/original/file-20210914-25-jbertf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421215/original/file-20210914-25-jbertf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421215/original/file-20210914-25-jbertf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Our research investigated how atoll islands shapeshift over time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sue Owen</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ultimately, personal safety and risk reduction will be critical for communities that choose to remain living on remote islands in the coming decades. <a href="https://ipdefenseforum.com/2021/06/early-warning-crucial-to-limiting-pacific-islands-storm-surge-damage/">Early warning systems</a> that accurately <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00199/full">forecast wave overtopping</a> and flooding events will need to be coupled with disaster preparation and evacuation systems to reduce the risks to people and property during storm events.</p>
<h2>Not all good news</h2>
<p>Adapting atoll island communities to sea level rise through their islands’ natural building mechanism is not universally applicable. In fact, it may only be viable for rural islands with low population densities. More site-specific investigations are required to understand whether and where this kind of adaptation strategy is feasible. </p>
<p>We also mustn’t disregard other adverse impacts of climate change for coral reef island nations. Most importantly, <a href="https://theconversation.com/blue-planet-ii-can-we-really-halt-the-coral-reef-catastrophe-87286">threats to coral reef ecosystems</a>, due to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2453177/">increased water temperature</a> and <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/acidification-reefs/">ocean acidity</a>, is reducing reef biodiversity and leading to economic consequences for islands closely tied to their reefs. Healthy reefs provide islands with a constant supply of sediment; dead reefs will not.</p>
<p>But in relation to future habitability, the option to allow islands to naturally evolve and rise with sea levels should be considered alongside man-made coastal protection and community relocation. Scientists must work with island communities to determine which options are best for their long-term survival. In many cases natural evolution would be more cost-effective and sustainable than coastal defences, and less disruptive and traumatic than relocating islanders.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167964/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerd Masselink received funding from the Global Challenges Research Fund for this research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Simon Kench receives funding from:
Catalyst Fund: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, NZ
Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund</span></em></p>Waves, storms and floods can reshape atoll islands to survive sea-level rise – but their coral reefs need protection.Gerd Masselink, Professor of Coastal Geomorphology, University of PlymouthPaul Simon Kench, Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1442782020-08-13T20:09:57Z2020-08-13T20:09:57ZPacific people have been ‘pummelled and demeaned’ for too long – now they’re fighting back<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352618/original/file-20200813-24-1f14fqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C15%2C2032%2C1517&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arorae/Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sea level rise is a serious threat to the low-lying islands of the Republic of Kiribati in the central Pacific Ocean. To fight it, their president recently <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/10/kiribatis-presidents-plans-to-raise-islands-in-fight-against-sea-level-rise">announced</a> he plans to raise the islands to make them habitable as long as possible. </p>
<p>President Taneti Maamau will seek support from China for this ambitious strategy, and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-20/kiribati-to-switch-diplomatic-ties-from-taiwan-to-china/11532192">recently switched</a> his nation’s allegiance from Taiwan to China to make this happen. It’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/soft-power-goes-hard-chinas-economic-interest-in-the-pacific-comes-with-strings-attached-103765">a bold move</a>, considering China’s sights are set on military and economic <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-australias-soft-power-in-the-pacific-fades-chinas-voice-gets-louder-111841">expansion</a> across the Pacific region, yet Maamau insists on maintaining Kiribati’s independence.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-australias-soft-power-in-the-pacific-fades-chinas-voice-gets-louder-111841">As Australia's soft power in the Pacific fades, China's voice gets louder</a>
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<p>Maamau’s response to the looming climate crisis in Kiribati shows he is a president determined not to capitulate to western narratives of vulnerability. </p>
<p>Unlike President Anote Tong before him, who held the <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-kiribatian-households-are-mulling-climate-migration-and-thats-just-the-start-51627">widely commended</a> policy of migration, the Maamau viewpoint is not simply a difference of opinion – it’s a culturally grounded expression of human <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-give-up-on-pacific-island-nations-yet-83300">dignity</a>. </p>
<h2>Demeaning narratives</h2>
<p>Kiribati is made up of atolls – the sinking summits of volcanic islands from the flanks of which coral reefs grow upwards. Unconsolidated sands and gravels tossed up onto these reefs by storm waves form the atoll islands, which are typically narrow, sinuous and low.</p>
<p>Most of us cannot imagine the everyday challenges of life there. The ocean is omnipresent, impossible to ignore, and a threat that could extinguish life on the island with just a short-lived flourish.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352623/original/file-20200813-24-mq1fmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="President Taneti Maamau stands behind a podium at a UN conference." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352623/original/file-20200813-24-mq1fmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352623/original/file-20200813-24-mq1fmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352623/original/file-20200813-24-mq1fmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352623/original/file-20200813-24-mq1fmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352623/original/file-20200813-24-mq1fmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352623/original/file-20200813-24-mq1fmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352623/original/file-20200813-24-mq1fmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">President Taneti Maamau recently switched his allegiance from Taiwan to China.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">UNIS Vienna/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>But for too long, the people of Kiribati have been <a href="https://univerlag.uni-goettingen.de/bitstream/handle/3/isbn-978-3-86395-435-2.11/11_farbotko_climate.pdf?sequence=1&">pummelled and demeaned</a> by global narratives that treat them as vulnerable.</p>
<p>This view ignores the fact that proud peoples have lived on atolls in the equatorial Pacific for millennia, surviving countless disasters. </p>
<p>For example, the people of Pukapuka Atoll in the northern Cook Islands speak of a night about 400 years ago as “te mate wolo” (the great death). Then, a giant wave washed over the island, destroying all the houses and food gardens, and killing everyone save two women and 17 men who were left to rebuild Pukapukan <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/the-edge-of-memory-9781472943262/">society</a>.</p>
<h2>Fight or flight</h2>
<p>By the end of this century, the average global sea level may be over a metre higher than <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04692-w">today</a>. The highest point of most atolls in Kiribati (and elsewhere) is less than three metres. </p>
<p>Such stark figures might ring alarm bells for those pondering atoll life, but many atoll islands show few signs of <a href="https://theconversation.com/dynamic-atolls-give-hope-that-pacific-islands-can-defy-sea-rise-25436">shrinking</a>. That said, no scientists studying this unexpected resilience believe the situation will last indefinitely. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dynamic-atolls-give-hope-that-pacific-islands-can-defy-sea-rise-25436">Dynamic atolls give hope that Pacific Islands can defy sea rise</a>
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<p>Like sprawling low-lying river deltas and low-lying coasts in every part of the world, the effect of rising sea level for the remainder of the 21st century and beyond will force profound changes to coastal geographies – atoll islands included.</p>
<p>There are two ways to respond. One is to agree with the Western narrative and accept that the rapidly rising sea level will progressively eat away at the fabric of your islands until they become uninhabitable, and eventually submerged. This idea of moving elsewhere – to a less fragile place – is a natural response, and the view former Kiribati president Anote Tong held. </p>
<p>But Tong is no longer in charge. Taneti Maamau has been elected president of Kiribati in the last two elections. His response, which clearly has popular appeal given his latest resounding win, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/23/pro-china-president-wins-re-election-in-kiribati">26,053 to 17,866</a>, is quite different.</p>
<p>He is confronting the overwhelmingly negative international rhetoric about atoll futures, designing and driving a way forward that will ensure livelihoods can be sustained in Kiribati for the foreseeable future. </p>
<p>He needs help, a role China appears willing to assume, but on his own terms - no large loans and no military bases.</p>
<p>Whether this position proves realistic is uncertain. Like many smaller Pacific Island countries, Kiribati has exhibited a growing dependence on <a href="http://www.australiaawardsafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/6_Foreign-aid-and-inclusive-education-in-the-Pacific-island-nation-of-Kiribati.pdf">foreign aid</a> for the provision of basic services over the past few decades. </p>
<p>However, such dependence is unsustainable <a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-islands-must-stop-relying-on-foreign-aid-to-adapt-to-climate-change-because-the-money-wont-last-132095">given the likely soaring costs</a> of domestic adaptation to climate change in donor countries. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-islands-must-stop-relying-on-foreign-aid-to-adapt-to-climate-change-because-the-money-wont-last-132095">Pacific Islands must stop relying on foreign aid to adapt to climate change, because the money won’t last</a>
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<p>Yet Kiribati is a special case. Its Exclusive Economic Zone (where it claims exclusive rights for economic activities such as fishing or drilling) covers a huge area of almost <a href="https://www.ilo.org/suva/countries-covered/kiribati/WCMS_634131/lang--en/index.htm#:%7E:text=Kiribati%20is%20a%20nation%20of,covering%203.5%20million%20square%20kilometres.">3.5 million square kilometres</a>, giving it a bargaining chip with more affluent yet less well-endowed nations.</p>
<h2>Raising the islands</h2>
<p>Today, raised causeways connect many atoll islands rising from the same reef for people and vehicles to cross. </p>
<p>Causeways are relatively cheap to construct but also inhibit water movements between atoll lagoons and the surrounding ocean, focusing wave attack on particular parts of islands. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352620/original/file-20200813-20-5bdqy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352620/original/file-20200813-20-5bdqy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352620/original/file-20200813-20-5bdqy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352620/original/file-20200813-20-5bdqy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352620/original/file-20200813-20-5bdqy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352620/original/file-20200813-20-5bdqy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352620/original/file-20200813-20-5bdqy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352620/original/file-20200813-20-5bdqy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tarawa, an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati. People have lived on atolls for millennia and survived disasters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Maamau’s plan is to replace these causeways with bridges, to improve lagoon-ocean water exchange and perhaps help restore island coasts to their natural state. It’s an expensive and engineeringly-challenging solution the Chinese are likely to relish given their construction of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-45937924">lengthy bridges</a> at home. </p>
<p>In addition, Maamau’s government will deploy dredgers to suck up vast quantities of sand from lagoon floors and dump it along exposed island coasts, not just for protection but also to build up more land for planting crops. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/unwelcome-sea-change-new-research-finds-coastal-flooding-may-cost-up-to-20-of-global-economy-by-2100-143599">Unwelcome sea change: new research finds coastal flooding may cost up to 20% of global economy by 2100</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This is a short-term low-cost solution, but one likely to prove sustainable for only a few decades at most, given the expected increases in prolonged island inundation in this <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/06/SR15_Chapter3_Low_Res.pdf">region</a>.</p>
<p>It would be a tragedy if Pacific Island countries, their people and their cultures, became lost a century or more from now. </p>
<p>But as the pandemic has reminded us, we in developed countries are much like the people of the atolls: we’re living on the edge and want to believe life is indefinitely sustainable where we are. The truth is, we have to adjust to survive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144278/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick D. Nunn receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (UK), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada) and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roselyn Kumar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The president of Kiribati plans to raise its low-lying islands to fight, not flee, sea level rise. Here’s why it’s an expression of human dignity.Patrick D. Nunn, Professor of Geography, School of Social Sciences, University of the Sunshine CoastRoselyn Kumar, Adjunct Research Fellow in Geography and Social Sciences, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1373832020-05-21T20:17:05Z2020-05-21T20:17:05ZMarine heat waves spell trouble for tropical reef fish — even before corals die<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336587/original/file-20200520-152327-r9k34j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=81%2C126%2C5898%2C3872&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A school of convict tang (_Acanthurus triostegus_) swim on Kiritimati's dead reefs after the 2015–16 marine heatwave.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kevin Bruce)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite the <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/oceans/problems/">many challenges facing the world’s oceans</a> today, coral reefs remain strongholds of marine biodiversity. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214016236">Thousands of species of fish</a> of all shapes and sizes call these colourful, complex and economically important ecosystems home. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3382">Impending ocean warming, however, spells trouble for these fishes</a>.</p>
<p>Ever since the <a href="https://www.icriforum.org/documents/status-of-coral-reefs-of-the-world-2000/">first global coral bleaching event</a> devastated reefs in the late 1990s, scientists have worked to document the effects of these catastrophic phenomena on coral reef fishes. In the wake of severe bleaching, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/3/3/424">coral mortality often leads to changes in the community of fish that live on the reef</a>: fish that feed on corals decline, while those that feed on algae increase as the latter proliferates. </p>
<p>But what happens to fish during a severe heat stress event — that is, when water temperatures rise, but the corals have not yet bleached and died? It seems that very few scientists have tried to find out. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2124">Our new study</a>, published in <em>Ecological Applications</em>, surveyed reef fish communities before, during and after the 2015–16 El Niño on Kiritimati, a coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean, that is part of the country of Kiribati. Our research suggests that short-term increases in water temperature may have devastating impacts on reef fish populations and the local communities that rely on them.</p>
<h2>Heating up the world’s largest atoll</h2>
<p>Kiritimati, or Christmas Island, is the world’s largest coral atoll — ring-shaped reef — by land mass. The nearest major airport is more than 2,000 kilometres away, in Hawaii. The people who live on Kiritimati are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.01.012">highly dependent on reef fish</a> as a source of both food and income.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336588/original/file-20200520-152349-1wz6wbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336588/original/file-20200520-152349-1wz6wbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336588/original/file-20200520-152349-1wz6wbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336588/original/file-20200520-152349-1wz6wbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336588/original/file-20200520-152349-1wz6wbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336588/original/file-20200520-152349-1wz6wbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336588/original/file-20200520-152349-1wz6wbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A healthy coral reef on Kiritimati, prior to the El Niño in 2015–16.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kristina Tietjen)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the 2015–16 El Niño <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.aan8048">wreaked havoc on reefs worldwide</a>, its effects were especially catastrophic around Kiritimati. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190957">Unprecedented levels of heat stress</a> persisting for 10 straight months led to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/04/12/why-dead-coral-reefs-stir-fears-of-dangerous-climate-change/">over 80 per cent coral mortality</a> around the island, but not before triggering a change in the local fish community.</p>
<h2>Stressed-out reef fish</h2>
<p>After just two months of heat stress, reef fish populations around the atoll had plummeted by half. The number of fish species also declined, with some species disappearing entirely. Five species, including the Chevron butterflyfish (<em>Chaetodon trifascialis</em>), which feeds exclusively on live coral, have not been seen since. </p>
<p>One year after the heat wave, however, we found — somewhat surprisingly — that total reef fish biomass and abundance had recovered, rebounding to levels similar to those we’d observed in years prior to the heat wave. This begs the question: What exactly happened during those long, heat-stricken months?</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336589/original/file-20200520-152338-17yd9op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336589/original/file-20200520-152338-17yd9op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336589/original/file-20200520-152338-17yd9op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336589/original/file-20200520-152338-17yd9op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336589/original/file-20200520-152338-17yd9op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336589/original/file-20200520-152338-17yd9op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336589/original/file-20200520-152338-17yd9op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336589/original/file-20200520-152338-17yd9op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The pufferfish, <em>Arothron meleagris</em>, one of the many reef fish species on Kiritimati that declined during the heat wave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sean Dimoff)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While severe heat stress can lead to <a href="http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v401/p233-243/">decreased fitness</a> and even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12455">mortality</a> in reef fishes, we believe that most of the missing fish sought shelter on the deeper, cooler reefs around the island during the heat wave. Once the heat had subsided, they could have easily returned to the shallows.</p>
<p>Yet the recovery of the reef fish community was not the same across the board. Sites on the atoll nearest to the villages, where the reefs have been heavily affected by dredging, fishing and pollution, had impaired recovery relative to areas of the atoll far from villages where the reefs were nearly pristine prior to the heat wave. </p>
<p>This suggests that local environmental protection could help make reefs more resilient to the ravages of severe ocean warming. While it may not be enough to entice fish to stay put during a severe warming event, high-quality reefs may be more attractive to these fish upon their return.</p>
<h2>A window into the future</h2>
<p>If the reef fish return once the heat stress is over, is their disappearance in the short-term really a big deal? Considering that the survival of <a href="https://www.wri.org/publication/reefs-risk-revisited">millions of people worldwide</a> depends on tropical reef fishes, we believe the answer to this question is a resounding yes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336583/original/file-20200520-152344-jc7044.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=65%2C113%2C3844%2C2880&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336583/original/file-20200520-152344-jc7044.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336583/original/file-20200520-152344-jc7044.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336583/original/file-20200520-152344-jc7044.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336583/original/file-20200520-152344-jc7044.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336583/original/file-20200520-152344-jc7044.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336583/original/file-20200520-152344-jc7044.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A healthy coral reef on Kiritimati, prior to the heat wave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kieran Cox)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The impacts of climate change on coral reefs are only <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw6974">predicted to worsen</a> in the coming decades. Studying the effects of severe heat stress in the present can serve as a window into the future, foreshadowing the consequences of gradual ocean warming and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0383-9">more frequent and severe marine heat waves</a> that are predicted to occur. </p>
<p>By understanding how fish populations react to elevated water temperatures, we can also attempt to predict and mitigate the effects of ocean warming on highly reef-dependent communities such as those on Kiritimati.</p>
<p>Within the realm of coral reef research, most studies on heat stress to date have focused on the <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-94-017-7499-4_8">link between heat stress and coral bleaching</a>, and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/d3030424">knock-on effects of catastrophic bleaching on reef fishes</a>. However, corals are not the only animals affected by the heat stress itself. Unless we intervene to limit climate change globally, we may risk losing not only corals but critically important reef fishes as well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137383/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer M.T. Magel receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia K. Baum receives funding from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Pew Charitable Trusts, National Geographic, and the Rufford Foundation. </span></em></p>Reef fish vanish during marine heat waves, but may bounce back quickly on reefs that have few other environmental stressors.Jennifer M.T. Magel, Research Assistant, Biology, University of VictoriaJulia K. Baum, Professor of Biology, University of VictoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1199862019-07-11T22:44:37Z2019-07-11T22:44:37ZCuban compassion: Training doctors for a Pacific island nation running out of time<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283573/original/file-20190710-44437-1dhlltg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C3000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Boys play on a beach in Kiribati in 2014. Cuba is training doctors to tend to people on the Pacific island nation, struggling with disease amid the worsening effects of climate change. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kiribati. </p>
<p>You may not know where it is.</p>
<p>Pronouncing it is tricky (Ker-a-bas). It’s a small republic of 114,000 people spread out over 32 atolls <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kiribati/@-2.9371656,152.059717,3z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x65647c91c2028703:0x84327d040152c307!8m2!3d-3.370417!4d-168.734039?hl=en-NZ&authuser=0">in the middle of the Pacific Ocean</a>, near the international date line and right on the equator. </p>
<p>Palm trees line the white sandy shores. Turquoise water laps the sand. But is it an ideal island oasis? Hardly.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-tarawa">The battle of Tarawa</a>, a horrific skirmish in the Second World War, took place on Kiribati. And now a climate change battle is crashing on its shores amid a <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/136905/ccsbrief_kir_en.pdf">crisis of tuberculosis, leprosy</a> and other damnations. </p>
<p>Most of Kiribati sits about two metres above sea level. <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/23/11195">Recent studies estimate</a> that sea levels will rise at least two metres before the year 2100. This gives Kiribati no more than 80 years. </p>
<p>Anote Tong, the former president of Kiribati, has said that for “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/10/24/kiribati/?utm_term=.16b212f3291c">Kiribati it is already too late</a>” and that the international community should consider how people can migrate with dignity. </p>
<p>In response, <a href="https://dfat.gov.au/geo/kiribati/development-assistance/Pages/development-assistance-in-kiribati.aspx">Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/about-visa/pacific-access-category-resident-visa">New Zealand</a> offer temporary escape, while Fiji sold 5,500 acres of its land to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/The-Island-Nation-That-Bought-a-Back-Up-Property/378617/">Kiribati for $8.77 million dollars</a>. If all I-Kiribati, as the nation’s people are known, occupied this land the population density would be about 5,300 people per square kilometre. <a href="https://emergency.unhcr.org/entry/45581/camp-planning-standards-planned-settlements">This violates the UNHCR’s minimum standards for refugee camps</a>. </p>
<p>But as others work to help the I-Kiribati flee, Cuba encourages them to stay. <a href="http://misiones.minrex.gob.cu/en/kiribati">Havana is training I-Kiribati physicians for free</a> with the condition that they will return to work in their home country. Why? </p>
<p>First, let’s take a look at what New Zealand and Australia are proposing for Kiribati and other Pacific island nations.</p>
<h2>Encouraging migration</h2>
<p>Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, proposed a climate-change refugee visa program for Pacific island states, including Kiribati. But <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/106660148/humanitarian-visa-proposed-for-climate-change-refugees-dead-in-the-water">the New Zealand government scrapped the plan in August 2018</a> in response to concerns from Pacific island leaders about the self-determination of their peoples. New Zealand’s immigration minister, Iain Lees-Galloway, noted:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Pacific peoples have expressed desire to continue to live in their own countries, and current work is primarily focused on mitigating the impacts of climate change.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What does that work look like?</p>
<p>New Zealand’s “<a href="https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/pacific/kiribati/our-development-cooperation-in-kiribati/">development co-operation</a>” with Kiribati includes building hospital facilities, increasing family-planning options, bolstering the fishing sector, improving doctor qualifications and facilitating labour mobility schemes to help I-Kiribati find employment offshore. </p>
<p>Australia’s development assistance initiatives for Kiribati involves moving low- or semi-skilled workers to Australian communities on temporary work visas to help with “seasonal labour shortages.”</p>
<p>If Pacific peoples want to stay on their islands, why do Australian and New Zealand aid programs have not-so-hidden agendas of moving people off of the atolls? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283572/original/file-20190710-44466-1gd94zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2464%2C1586&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283572/original/file-20190710-44466-1gd94zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283572/original/file-20190710-44466-1gd94zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283572/original/file-20190710-44466-1gd94zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283572/original/file-20190710-44466-1gd94zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283572/original/file-20190710-44466-1gd94zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283572/original/file-20190710-44466-1gd94zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kiribati is seen in an aerial view. Climate change will likely wipe out the entire Pacific archipelago, but its people want to remain for now.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Certainly it’s more than Washington’s USAID, and Ottawa’s Global Affairs Canada — the foreign development branches of two countries with enormous carbon footprints — are doing for Kiribati. Neither country is offering any assistance to Kiribati. </p>
<h2>Cuba training doctors</h2>
<p>Enter Cuba. The country is offering close to 40 medical scholarships to Kiribati, which will nearly double the country’s physician workforce, and all under the idea that they should remain on the atolls.</p>
<p>Beyond the climate tragedy, Kiribati faces compounding health calamities. Almost 700 cases of active tuberculosis were recorded in 2018, along with 155 new cases of leprosy. While these conditions are often treated at the hospital in Tarawa, there is little in place to prevent these maladies from occurring. </p>
<p>On top of this is a <a href="https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2017-000184-wsm">dengue crisis</a>. <a href="https://www.unicef.org/pacificislands/04_Situation_Analysis_of_Children_Kiribati.pdf">Almost one in two children are stunted</a>, and <a href="https://www.who.int/diabetes/country-profiles/kir_en.pdf">one in four adults have Type 2 diabetes</a>. Both are the result of serious nutritional deficiencies. The lack of sanitation also makes the country’s <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/11/22/131507772/water-water-everywhere-and-not-a-drop-to-swim-in">lagoons toxic</a>, making rainwater the only drinking water.</p>
<p>With only 59 physicians in the country, more are needed. Kiribati’s treatment of tuberculosis and leprosy meets basic needs, but almost nothing is in place for physicians to actively work on disease prevention. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Books/W/Where-No-Doctor-Has-Gone-Before2">Cuba’s medical education is well known</a> for building community-level routines of health promotion around the world. </p>
<h2>Aiming to improve health on Kiribati</h2>
<p>Compare Cuba’s plan — to build better health from within Kiribati itself — to temporary work permits and a refugee settlement on an overcrowded parcel of land.</p>
<p>It’s a bold statement to offer a program that encourages skilled professionals to remain in the eye of the storm. And yet it reaffirms the “desire to remain,” as Lees-Galloway mentioned.</p>
<p>It also echoes Tong’s claim that by the time that Kiribati disappears, “no one will be immune from the catastrophic consequences of climate change.”</p>
<p>Extreme climatic events will alter human existence. And as they do, the question remains: How well will we take care of each other? </p>
<p>Will donor nations engage in development co-operation to foster health and livelihoods for a nation of future climate change migrants? Or will it come down to a few temporary visas for low-skilled workers who would otherwise be pressed into a refugee camp? <a href="http://islandtimes.us/kiribati-internship-training-programme-holds-first-graduation/">Already, New Zealand has offered additional training and support to the I-Kiribiati</a> graduates from Cuba working in the Pacific. Such support is encouraging. </p>
<p>But Cuba, in particular, offers a compelling example of how we can take care of each other during the climate crisis, regardless of where we are on the planet. </p>
<p>Kiribati is the first land to run out of time. Where will be next? And how will we take care of each other?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119986/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Huish receives funding from the Social Science & Humanities Research Council in Canada, and the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharon McLennan receives funding from the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund</span></em></p>Cuba is offering a compelling example of how we can take care of each other during the climate crisis with its work training doctors on Kiribati, a nation that is being devastated by climate change.Robert Huish, Associate Professor in International Development Studies, Dalhousie UniversitySharon McLennan, Lecturer in International Development, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.