The News
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a “global SOS” over rapidly-climbing sea levels in the Pacific Ocean.
Speaking in Tonga, he said that the ocean is rising at an unprecedented rate, pushing residents of tiny Pacific island nations from their homes, while erosion and flooding are shifting the landscape.
“Rising seas are a crisis entirely of humanity’s making, a crisis that will soon swell to an almost unimaginable scale, with no lifeboat to take us back to safety,” he said.
SIGNALS
‘Triple whammy’ affecting the islands
Islands in the region are being hit simultaneously by several climate-related dangers. Ocean heating, sea level rise, and acidification are all affecting the islands, damaging crops, contaminating freshwater, and endangering livelihoods. Pacific islands are responsible for just 0.02% of global emissions, but are disproportionately impacted by climate change. Regional emitters like Australia and New Zealand are being called on to provide extra funding to help nations adapt, but so far have fallen short of their pledges.
Indigenous communities threatened by climate change
There are 25,000 islands in the Pacific, spanning 15% of the Earth’s surface, International Policy Digest noted. The Indigenous peoples that have historically called the islands home are threatened by displacement, and islands risk losing their cultural identity as residents migrate to avoid the effects of climate change. Some nations are pressing ahead with initiatives to preserve their identities: Tuvalu, which has been at the forefront of efforts to mitigate climate impacts, is taking steps to digitize its landscape through drone footage and satellite imagery, aiming to digitally preserve its cultural heritage so that displaced residents can engage with their culture virtually.