Fiona Goodall, a photographer working with Getty Images, recently visited the tiny South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, a country battling rising sea levels with limited resources. Goodall reports that high tides regularly bring flooding that “inundates taro plantations, floods either side of the airport runway, and affects people’s homes.” While a study released in February showed that Tuvalu’s land area had actually increased by 2.9 percent since 1970, due mostly to wave-driven beach buildup, the elevation of the nation’s nine islands was not growing—and the sea has been rising by approximately 0.2 inches (5 millimeters) every year, above the global average, since 1993. The government of Tuvalu is working with public and private groups from around the Pacific to develop hardy crops, shore up vulnerable beaches, and move toward a goal of becoming 100 percent renewable-energy dependent by 2025.
A Visit to Tuvalu, Surrounded by the Rising Pacific
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Read moreSeen from the air, the Pacific Ocean (left) and Te Namo Lagoon (right) are separated by a thin strip of land—the atoll of Funafuti, Tuvalu— that was photographed on August 15, 2018. #
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Read moreThe primary-school teacher Valo Talava collects panea shells from the lagoon for dinner, on Funafuti, on August 15, 2018. #
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Read moreSport plays a huge role in daily life in Tuvalu. Volleyball, basketball, and soccer are played on the airport runway every evening on Funafuti. #
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Read moreMotorbikes are the main mode of transport on Funafuti, as seen in this August 15, 2018, photo. #
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Read moreFunafuti, Tuvalu's main island, where the majority of the country's population resides, photographed from the air on August 15, 2018 #
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Read moreWaves crash on the coral at the southern end of the main island on August 15, 2018. The area is vulnerable to storm surges after a cyclone changed the contour of the coral in the area, and houses are prone to flooding from large waves. #
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Read moreTepola Raobu weaves a tapola, or basket, on August 15, 2018, on Funafuti. The basket is made with leaves from the launiu tree and is used for cooking and storing food. #
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Read moreSunday is a day for family and church. There are many churches on Funafuti, and people walk to their local one for morning services, photographed on August 15, 2018. #
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Read moreNauti Primary School, where children learn in their native language and English, is one of two on the main island. #
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Read moreChildren jump off a shipwreck into the lagoon on August 15, 2018, on Funafuti, Tuvalu. The ship was the victim of a cyclone and now sits on the shoreline. #
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Read moreAita Stanley checks pawpaw fruit in the Taiwanese-funded Fatoaga Fiafia Garden, which provides work and vegetables for the island, on August 15, 2018. In a place where rising sea levels are destroying traditional planting, the garden is experimenting with raised beds and salt-tolerant seeds and crops, including a hybrid pawpaw that can withstand the conditions. The gardeners grow a number of vegetables, including cucumbers, beans, pumpkins, and Chinese cabbages, which they sell at a market twice a week. #
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Read moreThe landfill at the north end of Funafuti, photographed on August 15, 2018 #
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Read moreChildren play near the sea as storm clouds gather on the horizon, on August 15, 2018. #
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Read moreRising sea levels cause flooding at high tide near the airport runway, on August 15, 2018, on Funafuti. #
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Read moreLocals play a game of volleyball on the airport runway on August 15, 2018. #
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Read moreA small island off the north end of Funafuti, photographed on August 15, 2018 #
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Read moreJamie Ovia, the climate-mitigation-and-policy adviser to the Tuvalu government, says his nation sees a lot of effects from climate change, but they are doing their best to adapt. He says Tuvalu is trying to show the international community that if it can be done on a small island nation, it can be done in big nations as well. He said Tuvalu is trying to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions and demand on the environment. #
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Read moreStella Tefiti feeds and cleans the family pigs on August 15, 2018, on Funafuti. Pigs are one of the main sources of fresh meat on the island, and are housed on the ocean side of the main island. #
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Read moreLoisio Kale shaves a pig in the sea for a celebration on the evening of August 15, 2018. #
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Read moreThe very low elevation of the land—its maximum elevation reaches only 14.5 feet (4.5 meters) above sea level—can be seen from the lagoon, on August 15, 2018. #
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Read moreFaiva Nete works on his handwriting at school, on August 15, 2018, on Funafuti. #
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Read moreForeign fishing vessels and shipwrecks on the shores of the lagoon, photographed on August 15, 2018 #
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Read moreTeams from the Ministry of Education and the Office of the Prime Minister compete in a local game called "ano" after work on August 15, 2018. #
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Read moreA narrow causeway at the north end of the island, with the lagoon on its left and the ocean on its right, photographed on August 15, 2018, on Funafuti, Tuvalu #
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