Drought Threatens Pacific Islanders' Survival

Military planes from Australia and New Zealand are rushing fresh water and desalination equipment to the island country of Tuvalu, which has declared a state of emergency after months of drought. Water rationing has been imposed on the island’s 11,000 inhabitants, and schools and hospitals have been affected.

The drought is caused by the La Nina weather pattern, but conditions are exacerbated by the effects of climate change. The tiny island nation’s groundwater has been contaminated by rising sea levels, rendering the population completely dependent on rainfall. As global warming conditions continue to cause sea levels to rise, the entire country is expected to disappear under the waves within the next 50 years.

The two desalination plants on the main island are producing barely enough to meet half of the residents’ needs. It has not rained in six months in Tuvalu, and fruits and vegetables growing on the islands are also affected. Tuvalu disaster coordinator Sumeo Sulu told Austalia’s The Age: “It’s mostly climate change. Normally this is our rainy season but there’s no rain. Even our root crops have died from the salt.”

The drought has also hit the even tinier territory of Tokelau, which ran out of fresh water last week and is dependent on bottled water delivered by the U.S. Coast Guard from Samoa. Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga are also suffering from drought conditions, with the likelihood of rain still a month or two away.

Tuvalu’s challenges come as hopes are wavering for positive action at the next round of international climate talks, scheduled to begin in November in Durban, South Africa. Progress also has been stalled on numerous fronts in the U.S. A recent article by the League of Women Voters of California’s Program Director for Climate Change points out various measures pending in the U.S. House of Representatives that, in the name of budget reductions, would prevent funding that might allow us to better adapt to climate change, including:

NOAA shall not be allowed to fund a Climate Service
Army Corps of Engineers shall not be funded to prepare for climate change;
USDA shall not be funded to help farmers to adapt to climate change;
Homeland Security shall not be funded to operate its Climate Change Adaptation Task Force.

Paradise Denied: Climate Change Refugees in Panama and Elsewhere Flee to Mainland

Photo: A School on Tuvalu by marlins, Creative Commons license, via Flickr

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Juergen F.

12:40AM PDT on Mar 29, 2012

As a matter of fact it is not at all enough to be against climate change in the sense of deteriotation. The injustice of natural precipitation worldwide demands climate change to the better. The practical method to do so is described in the comments at

http://climatechange.thinkaboutit.eu/think4/post/brain_-_rain_-_grain_-_gain

send a green star

Elizabeth M.

11:33AM PDT on Mar 27, 2012

Was Tuvalu's population turned away from moving not too long ago????
Thank you for your information Grace A. Very interesting!

Carole R.

7:10PM PDT on Oct 17, 2011

Thanks for the post.

Sonny H.

6:07AM PDT on Oct 16, 2011

Noted!

roseann s.

8:39PM PDT on Oct 15, 2011

we must show our community spirit and help those who in need.

sandra m.

1:09PM PDT on Oct 15, 2011

thanks

Past Member .

9:16PM PDT on Oct 14, 2011

Thank you for posting this.

Quanta K.

1:44AM PDT on Oct 14, 2011

noted

Beth H.

1:14PM PDT on Oct 12, 2011

Thanks for the article.

Portland N.

8:55AM PDT on Oct 12, 2011

When Texas was burning up several weeks ago, so many Texans felt President Obama had not forgiven them for not voting for him. I read these comments on another social network.
I wanted to say that the lack of aid or help was due to the lack of funds, but I did not want to get them upset and chewing on me with their comments. So, wrote something very safe!

This article confirms what I suspected!!! And, it is sad that Tuvalu and many other island countries will have to face these serious issues within the next 10 to 15 years. Maybe, the people of Tuvalu should be working on a plan for relocating to somewhere safer. The island might be covered with ocean waves in 50 years, but the ocean waves may make living on the island absolute hell within the next 20 years.

Also, the article did not mention specifically what they meant by “desalination equipment.” Are they transporting parts for the two existing desalination plants or are they bringing the parts for a third plant? It sounds like they need at least a third plant. But, how long does it take to build a new or assemble a used plant? These plants are nowhere near inexpensive at all. So, Australia and New Zealand are providing a very generous gift!