Global Warming Forces Kiribati to Move To Fiji

Kiribati, a low-lying Pacific island, is planning to move to Fiji because of global warming. Kiribati President Anote Tong is now planning to buy nearly nine square miles for $9.6 million on Fiji main island, Viti Levu.

"We would hope not to put everyone on one piece of land, but if it became absolutely necessary, yes, we could do it," Kiribati President Anote Tong told the Washington Post. "It wouldn't be for me, personally, but would apply more to a younger generation. For them, moving won't be a matter of choice. It's basically going to be a matter of survival."

A few villages in Kiribati have already moved to Fiji Island because of the increasing level of sea water. The increase is contaminating the island's underground fresh water which remains vital for trees and crops. The rise in ocean level proses a major threat to Kiribati, forcing the inhabitants to relocate to Fiji Island.

In 2009, researchers had predicted that the Kiribati Island would completely disappear because of climate change. Now there prediction is becoming true.

Some scientists have estimated the current level of sea rise in the Pacific at about 0.1 inch (2 millimetres) a year. Many scientists expect that rate to accelerate due to climate change, according to the Washington Post.

Kiribati is located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean; it straddles the equator near the International Date Line. The population is around 100,000. Fiji is home to about 850,000 people and lies about 1,400 miles south of Kiribati.