There are a lot of Solomo­nic life-or-death choi­ces the global community must make in these trying times, the most urgent of which involves the untold ha­voc wreaked by the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. But the Republic of Kiribati, the only country in the world situated in all four hemispheres, is waging a war that is just as deadly. This sovereign state (population: 110,000), a former Uni­ted Kingdom colony in the central Pacific Ocean consisting of 32 atolls and one raised coral island called Banaba, is in a race against time looking for ways to save its people and culture from the destructive reach of climate change. While it’s fighting not to get completely “swallowed by the sea,” two of its uninhabi­ted atolls, Arorae and Tamana, have already been washed off by the ocean. And if scientific calculations are accurate, and nothing is done to reverse the rising sea levels—which rise at a rate of 3 millimeters annually—the whole country will be submerged underwater within the next century! Anote is considering ano­ther “high-tech” option: Broached by a technology firm in Japan, he’s thinking of “commissioning” an underwater city on two floating islands in the Pacific Ocean that can support deep-sea living for 30,000 to 50,000 people each.

Asilo, R. P. (2020, April 27). Sink or swim: Climate change documentary ‘Anote’s Ark’ chronicles Kiribati’s resistance from getting ‘swallowed by the sea’. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. C6.