According to President Anote Tong, several parts of the Pacific island nation have already been submerged during high tides, washing away villages, eroding the coastline and killing off crops that rely on fresh water sources.
"We've had communities that have had to relocate because their previous village is submerged, it's no longer there," he told French news agency AFP.
"We had a very high tide at the beginning of this month and communities were washed out. It's becoming more frequent, time is running out."
President Tong and his government are now drawing up emergency plans to battle the rising water levels, including planting mangrove forests to minimise coastal erosion and building sea walls.
Plans for mass evacuations are also being considered, as the government explores the option of relocating Kiribati’s population of 103,000.
"We have to accept the possibility, the reality, that some of our people will have to be relocated," Tong said.
"We don't want to allow the nation of Kiribati to disappear and we have to work out what we do in order to ensure that."
Options currently on the table include buying a 2,000 hectare stretch of land in Fiji, which can be used to grow food for the population or, in the worst case scenario, used to house displaced people.
Land in East Timor and artificial islands were also being considered, President Tong added. "To wait for the time when we have no other option but to jump (in the sea) and swim or go somewhere is unrealistic," he said.
The Pacific archipelago of more than 30 coral islands is one of several low-lying countries most at risk from rising sea levels. The UN Human Right Commission is also concerned for the populations of the Maldives, Tuvalu (Polynesia) and Tokelau (New Zealand).
Scientific data release last week showed that sea levels rose by 11 centimetres over the last two decades, faster than originally believed. The pattern suggests global sea levels will rise by one metre by the year 2100.
πηγή: DOTW
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