Tebua- gone for good?

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  • Created by: Anoush
  • Created on: 11-01-16 14:15
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  • Tebua- gone for good?
    • Lay off Tarawa Atoll, on the extreme Western edge of the nation of Kiribati.
      • A group of islands stretching across the Pacific in an area nearly as wide as the USA.
      • Kiribati consists of very low-lying sand and mangrove islands, one metre or less above sea level in most places.
        • Its population is 92 500. Economically, Kiribati is even smaller.
          • Its GDP is equal to 3000 average Americans.
            • Its exports consist mainly of coconut flesh, used to make soaps and oils.
        • Kiribati is disappearing. Its beaches are flat and barely 500 metres wide
          • So eroded by storms that sand  has been imported from Au to maintain them.
            • Many families have moved, dismantling their wooden homes and rebuilding them further inland.
              • Gradually, people are squeezed into a narrow ***** of land between the lagoon and Pacific.
                • More people are leaving, becoming the World's first environmental refugees.
    • Where will Kiribati's population go?
      • Kiribati's president, Anote Tong, warned Au and New Zealand (the 2 developed nations in the region) to prepare for a mass exodus within the next decade.
      • 17 000 islanders have applied for residence in NZ in 2004-2005 compared with 4000 in 2003.
        • Accepting large numbers of refugees could be a political problem.
    • Why did Tebua disappear?
      • Tebua's disappearance is one of the many signs of GW occurring.
        • Since 1920, temperatures in the southwest Pacific have risen by 1C, although the world has warmed by 0.6C in 1920.
    • In Micronesia, sea level has risen by 21.4mm every year since 2001.
    • The USA creates 25% of global GHG emissions.
      • The worst effects of rising sea level will be felt by the World's poorest countries, which make only the tinniest contribution and are less equipped to cope.
    • As if GW wasn't enough...
      • On 13 jan 2007, an earthquake off the coast of Japan, which measured 8.2, triggered a tsunami alert in Kiribati, 3000 miles away.
    • Kiribati facts:
      • Life expectancy at birth- 65.8% in 2013 and 64.8% in 2005.
      • Annual GDP growth: -0.2% in 2005 and 3.7% in 2014.

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