Fearing that climate change could wipe out their entire Pacific archipelago, the leaders of Kiribati are considering an unusual backup plan: moving the populace to Fiji.
Kiribati President Anote Tong said Friday that his Cabinet this week endorsed a plan to buy almost 6,000 acres on Fiji's main island, Viti Levu. He said the fertile land, being sold by a church group for about $9.6 million, could provide an insurance policy for Kiribati's entire population of 103,000, though he hopes it will never be necessary for everyone to leave.
Kiribati, which straddles the equator near the international date line, has found itself at the leading edge of the debate on climate change because many of its atolls rise just a few feet above sea level.
Tong said some villages have already moved and there have been increasing instances of seawater contaminating the island's underground freshwater, which remains vital for trees and crops. He said changing rainfall, tidal and storm patterns pose as least as much threat as ocean levels, which have risen only slightly.
Some scientists have estimated the current level of sea rise in the Pacific at about 0.1 inches per year. Many scientists expect that rate to accelerate because of climate change.
Kiribati, which was known as the Gilbert Islands when it was a British colony, has been an independent nation since 1979.