destination • outdoors

Tarawa

I’ve made it to the central Pacific island nation of #Kiribati - #156. While this photo looks beautiful at first glance, it’s actually really sad. This is the main road on South Tarawa island, and it’s currently low tide... When the high tide comes, the water is inches away from the tar. By the year 2100, a time when many of you reading this will still be alive, the entire country of Kiribati will be completely submerged underwater. It’s one of the first countries to feel the real impacts of climate change. Village people have been forced to leave their homes to move inland. Fresh water ponds have been taken over by the sea, crops have been destroyed and washed away. It’s alarming to see this with my own eyes, and imagine that there is 100,000 people living here. I interviewed several people living on the coast and it’s heartbreaking to hear what has happened to their lives. What do you think is a solution to not only prevent climate change, but to immediately start protecting the lives of the residents??