Sea levels are predicted to continue to rise as global temperatures increase. While many cities along the U.S. coastline, including Norfolk, are executing comprehensive plans to deal with the impacts of climate change, adaptation strategies have limits. Just ask the residents of the Marshall Islands.
About 50,000 people live on these islands, which are located in the Pacific Ocean and lie just above sea level. Because of rising sea level, flooding is becoming more and more frequent. Even technology and changing behaviors might not be enough to deal with the impacts they are facing.
Watch this video to understand why adaptation strategies are not an option for some communities. As you watch, compare the situation on the Marshall Islands to the situation in Norfolk, Virginia. After you watch, answer the questions in the Take Notes section below.
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NARRATOR: The Marshall Islands are a nation of low-lying islands in the Pacific. They are home to 50,000 people and a vibrant culture. Today, they face becoming a new kind of refugee: a climate refugee.
KATHY JETÑIL-KIJINER, Marshall Islands Resident: We're only, like, two meters above sea level, so every time that there is a high tide, all this water gushes over and crashes into our homes and washes away graves. You feel really small. These floodings are going to continue to the point where we can’t live there anymore.
NARRATOR: Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner is a poet from the Marshall Islands. For her family, it is their homes and their very way of life that is at stake.
JETÑIL-KIJINER: What’s going to happen to our culture, our traditions? We’re hoping to not become nomads. We’re hoping to not become lost. There are songs and chants that you can’t hear anywhere else. What will happen to those stories that have survived for thousands of years? There’s just things that you can’t find anywhere else on Earth, that you can only find in the Marshalls.