The Atlantic - Scenes From The Front Line At Tuvalu

[hatrack]

A flooded pathway links the road to an enclave of houses in the northern borrow pits of Fongafale, the main islet of Tuvalu’s capitol. This area, and others like it, were coined ‘borrow or burrow pits’ because rock, soil and coral were excavated from these sites to help build Funafuti’s runway during WWII. The pits are small pools and are prone to flooding. This site floods almost daily and residents have to deal with surges from the ocean side as well.


Water pulled from Funafuti’s lagoon goes through a filtration system in the capital’s de-salination plant, the only plant in the country at the time this photo was taken. Here seawater is turned into drinking water that the Public Works Department sells to homes and businesses. Practically all structures have water catchment systems to collect precious rainwater, Tuvalu’s primary source of drinking, bathing and washing water. Water scarcity is a constant problem in Tuvalu. In fact Tuvalu is currently going through one of the most intense droughts in recent history.


Seaman Fatina Vaiafua, from the central Tuvaluan island Nukufetau, sweeps floating trash in an effort to keep it away from this enclave of homes in the south end of Funafuti. The trash comes from a former dump-site a few dozen meters from the path dividing the two rows of houses. Though this is the King Tide and therefore the highest of the year, Vaiafua does this once a month as it floods during every high tide.

Climate change is most visible in Tuvalu during the King Tide, a season characterized by the strongest and highest tides of the year, during the new and full moon of February. During these tides, the water bubbles up through the porous ground and pools across the low-lying islands, causing flooding throughout the country. Before the mid-90s, flooding was never as pervasive, even at the peak of the King Tide. But recently, alterations in traditional seasonal weather patterns -- most notably, alternating drought and extreme weather events -- have caused flooding to become a serious annual problem.

During the King Tide, childhood development educator Teimana Avanitele showed me around her flooded backyard and garden. Her backyard is deluged constantly during high tide, not just in February. The Avanitele family home is located on what used to be swampland, filled in by American soldiers during WWII when the local runway was built. The flooding creates septic problems, and many times has destroyed Avanitele's vegetable garden, forcing her to construct raised beds above the reach of the water.

I saw flooding throughout the capital island of Funafuti, where I lived for ten months, working on a photographic documentary investigating how climate change has affected everyday life in Tuvalu. I spoke with parents about their hopes for their children, young people about their future plans, fishermen and farmers about changes in their catches and crops. Elders in the community shared their observations about changes they have seen in the land and weather patterns.

"The weather, climate ... are not stable like before," observed Ioane Malologa, 64. "One time, I am living along the seashore, my house is there and the wave came up, right up to the house. And even ... buildings built with concrete were washed down or damaged by that big wave." Malologa, along with 11 other dancers, singers, and musicians, will represent Tuvalu in "Water is Rising," a show now touring the United States, raising awareness about the issues facing Tuvalu. "I have already advised my children. I got four daughters and one only son. ... They've been well educated, and now they all got jobs in the government. Well that'd be okay for their life at the moment but ... I have advised them -- it is better to migrate."

EDIT

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/11/scenes-from-an-island-nation-facing-its-own-demise/247912/#slide1

[Ian David]

1. They should advertise land for sale on Limbaugh's show and sell it to people...

... who don't believe in Global Warming.