Latest news with #Tuvalu
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
An Entire Country Has to Be Evacuated Because of Climate Change
Going Under Tuvalu, a small island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is planning to evacuate all of its over 11,000 inhabitants, due to rising sea levels caused by climate change that mean, essentially, that the low-lying country has no feasible future. As Wired reports, the nation signed an agreement with Australia in 2023 to set up a migration scheme in which 280 residents will permanently settle on the continent per year through a climate visa program. It's a sobering reminder of the incredibly damaging effects that global warming is having on our planet. Tuvalu is only 6.5 feet above sea level on average, meaning that rising tides will almost certainly be devastating to the region. Fierce storms, facilitated by rising temperatures, could make matters even worse for an already very vulnerable population. Rising Tides Australia's climate visas are allocated based on a lottery system. This week, the Australian High Commission of Tuvalu revealed that it had received "extremely high levels of interest in the ballot with 8,750 registrations, which includes family members of primary registrants." In other words, moving every Tuvaluan is taking on increasing urgency even as demand for the program spikes. "When combined with other Pacific pathways to Australia and New Zealand, nearly 4 percent of the population could migrate each year," UNSW Sydney research fellow Jane McAdam wrote in a recent piece for The Conversation. "Within a decade, close to 40 percent of the population could have moved — although some people may return home or go backwards and forwards." Besides relocating all its residents, Tuvalu has attempted to 3D-scan its islands to preserve its cultural heritage if they're lost to the waters. Tuvalu is far from the only nation facing a crisis caused by sea levels that are rising even faster than predicted. According to the UN Human Development Program, increased coastal flooding could endanger over 70 million people worldwide. By 2050, hundreds of highly populated cities will face increased risks of flooding thanks to climate change. According to the UN, rising sea levels are already impacting one billion people worldwide. "The existential threat we face is not of our making," said Tuvalu's prime minister, Feleti Teo, during a September speech at the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "But it will remake us." More on rising sea levels: Scientists Horrified by What They Found Under the Doomsday Glacier
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
An Entire Country Has to Be Evacuated Because of Climate Change
Going Under Tuvalu, a small island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is planning to evacuate all of its over 11,000 inhabitants, due to rising sea levels caused by climate change that mean, essentially, that the low-lying country has no feasible future. As Wired reports, the nation signed an agreement with Australia in 2023 to set up a migration scheme in which 280 residents will permanently settle on the continent per year through a climate visa program. It's a sobering reminder of the incredibly damaging effects that global warming is having on our planet. Tuvalu is only 6.5 feet above sea level on average, meaning that rising tides will almost certainly be devastating to the region. Fierce storms, facilitated by rising temperatures, could make matters even worse for an already very vulnerable population. Rising Tides Australia's climate visas are allocated based on a lottery system. This week, the Australian High Commission of Tuvalu revealed that it had received "extremely high levels of interest in the ballot with 8,750 registrations, which includes family members of primary registrants." In other words, moving every Tuvaluan is taking on increasing urgency even as demand for the program spikes. "When combined with other Pacific pathways to Australia and New Zealand, nearly 4 percent of the population could migrate each year," UNSW Sydney research fellow Jane McAdam wrote in a recent piece for The Conversation. "Within a decade, close to 40 percent of the population could have moved — although some people may return home or go backwards and forwards." Besides relocating all its residents, Tuvalu has attempted to 3D-scan its islands to preserve its cultural heritage if they're lost to the waters. Tuvalu is far from the only nation facing a crisis caused by sea levels that are rising even faster than predicted. According to the UN Human Development Program, increased coastal flooding could endanger over 70 million people worldwide. By 2050, hundreds of highly populated cities will face increased risks of flooding thanks to climate change. According to the UN, rising sea levels are already impacting one billion people worldwide. "The existential threat we face is not of our making," said Tuvalu's prime minister, Feleti Teo, during a September speech at the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "But it will remake us." More on rising sea levels: Scientists Horrified by What They Found Under the Doomsday Glacier
ABC News
a day ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Former missionary indicted for alleged sexual exploitation of children in Tonga
On the program today A former missionary from the LDS church is arrested in the United States for allegedly sexually abusing minors in the Kingdom of Tonga. Tuvalu's Prime Minister says his country will continue to keep Australia accountable on its carbon emissions despite an economic and security treaty between the two governments. Samoa ramps up its response to a deadly dengue outbreak. Researches in Brisbane roll out new technology which immunises mosquitoes against the dengue illness. In Palau, scientists and oral history custodians join forces to piece together the story behind some of the Pacific's most ancient monuments. India's Rugby Premier League completes its inaugural season. And a kava-led boom unfolds on the roads of Vanuatu's remote islands.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
An Entire Country Has to Be Evacuated Because of Climate Change
Going Under Tuvalu, a small island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is planning to evacuate all of its over 11,000 inhabitants, due to rising sea levels caused by climate change that mean, essentially, that the low-lying country has no feasible future. As Wired reports, the nation signed an agreement with Australia in 2023 to set up a migration scheme in which 280 residents will permanently settle on the continent per year through a climate visa program. It's a sobering reminder of the incredibly damaging effects that global warming is having on our planet. Tuvalu is only 6.5 feet above sea level on average, meaning that rising tides will almost certainly be devastating to the region. Fierce storms, facilitated by rising temperatures, could make matters even worse for an already very vulnerable population. Rising Tides Australia's climate visas are allocated based on a lottery system. This week, the Australian High Commission of Tuvalu revealed that it had received "extremely high levels of interest in the ballot with 8,750 registrations, which includes family members of primary registrants." In other words, moving every Tuvaluan is taking on increasing urgency even as demand for the program spikes. "When combined with other Pacific pathways to Australia and New Zealand, nearly 4 percent of the population could migrate each year," UNSW Sydney research fellow Jane McAdam wrote in a recent piece for The Conversation. "Within a decade, close to 40 percent of the population could have moved — although some people may return home or go backwards and forwards." Besides relocating all its residents, Tuvalu has attempted to 3D-scan its islands to preserve its cultural heritage if they're lost to the waters. Tuvalu is far from the only nation facing a crisis caused by sea levels that are rising even faster than predicted. According to the UN Human Development Program, increased coastal flooding could endanger over 70 million people worldwide. By 2050, hundreds of highly populated cities will face increased risks of flooding thanks to climate change. According to the UN, rising sea levels are already impacting one billion people worldwide. "The existential threat we face is not of our making," said Tuvalu's prime minister, Feleti Teo, during a September speech at the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "But it will remake us." More on rising sea levels: Scientists Horrified by What They Found Under the Doomsday Glacier Solve the daily Crossword
Washington Post
4 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Warming oceans drive tuna from Pacific islands
FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu — Kauaka Petaia guided his motorboat out of Tuvalu's main lagoon at dawn and into the vast Pacific Ocean, where he and his nephew scanned the rolling horizon for signs of their country's most precious resource: tuna. They searched for more than two hours before finally spotting seagulls circling in the distance. Petaia threw open the throttle as his nephew Ranol Smoliner tossed a hooked line into the water. Soon, the younger man felt the tug of a 25-pound yellowfin, which he pulled up and bashed with a club. By morning's end, the pair had caught eight tuna — a haul far smaller than when Petaia's father taught him to fish 30 years earlier.
