If estimates are correct, by 2050, the gorgeous Pacific island nation of Tuvalu will be the first country on Earth to be consumed by rising sea levels caused by climate change. Its mass evacuation has already begun.
As reported by Wired, this tiny nation of around 11,000 people, spread across nine islands, has seen sea levels 15 centimeters higher than the average over the past 30 years. Numbers like that need some perspective.
So let’s put it this way: while 15 centimeters of the past 30 years doesn’t sound like anything, but in practical reality, that’s a horrifying emergency that requires immediate action unless everyone on these islands spontaneously grows gills or gets a personal invite to Atlantis from Aquaman himself.
Climate Change is Destroying the Island of Tuvalu
The Falepili Union Treaty is a pact between Tuvalu and Australia, signed in 2023, that establishes the first planned climate migration program of its kind. Under the agreement, 280 Tuvaluans will be granted permanent residency in Australia each year, along with access to healthcare, education, housing, and employment. The visa program opened its first ballot this July, with over 8,750 hopeful applicants, including family members, registering for just 280 spots.
The effort isn’t just about saving Tuvalu’s people, but also its culture. While Tuvaluans will physically relocate, the nation itself is also preparing to transfer its cultural heritage online fully. In 2022, Tuvalu announced plans to become the world’s first digital nation. The country is 3D-scanning islands, digitizing government functions, and even rewriting its constitution to define itself as a virtual state. If the islands go under, Tuvalu will still exist, just not in the way it or any other nation used to.
What’s happening to Tuvalu isn’t happening in a vacuum. The water is rising everywhere. NASA says sea levels have doubled their rate of increase since 1993. The Gulf of Mexico is rising three times faster than the global average. Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi are all in imminent danger of losing their coastlines.
If Tuvalu is the canary in the coal mine, and that coal mine is rapidly filling with water.
The post This Entire Country Has To Be Evacuated Because of Climate Change appeared first on VICE.
