The Social Politics of Environmental Migrants – Small island nations grappling with sea level rise
Over the last century oceans have risen by 5 to 9 inches around the world, and sea level is predicted to rise another 5 feet by the end of the 21st century. The rising sea level due to climate change threatens coastal cities and communities, and even a small increase can have devastating effects. Small island nations such as Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Kiribati, and the Maldives are at risk for being submerged completely in the rising seas. These low-lying coral atolls that rise only 6-8 feet above sea level have limited climate adaptation options, and will likely be drowned by the inescapable creep of the ocean in the next 50-100 years. Indeed, President Anote Tong of Kiribati, in fact, has already put in place a policy of “migration with dignity,” in which the people of the island nation are asked to leave the country and make new lives elsewhere.
Using this issue as a theme this semester, I will explore the complex political, social, and cultural implications of environmental migration. What will the island nations do in the face of relocating their inhabitants over the next century? How can governments prepare, and what measures are the islanders taking to preserve their culture after their ancestral land is taken by the sea? How do the environmental hardships create inequalities for the people of these island nations, and what will the implications be for the rest of the world?
Ellen is a senior Environmental Studies major and Geoscience minor at Wellesley College. She recently sailed from San Diego to Tahiti and other French Polynesian islands in the South Pacific on an oceanography and climate research voyage. @ellenbechtel