He adds: “All islands of the Pacific are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. However, low-lying atoll countries like Tuvalu, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia are more vulnerable.
“These islands are not only prone to inundation from rising seas, especially during king tides, but access to clean and safe drinking water is a challenge, with prolonged droughts and unpredictable rainfall patterns.”
Then there’s the threat of erratic and potentially devastating tropical storms, which are ranked from one (the weakest), to five (the strongest).
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology has said that climate models of the Pacific Ocean have suggested “there could be a future shift towards fewer, but more intense, cyclones”.
However, in Tonga locals say they are now seeing stronger storms hit more often.
Nomuka is a small triangular island in Tonga’s Ha’apai archipelago, about 3,500km (2,175 miles) north-west of Sydney, Australia. Surrounded by ocean, its population of about 400 people feels at the mercy of nature’s whims and fury.
“We live with cyclones almost every year. I grew up there, and there were usually one or two that come in for a direct hit,” says Sione Taufa, an associate dean Pacific at the University of Auckland Business School, and a member of the New Zealand-Tonga Business Council.
“But nowadays we are seeing more of those category four or five cyclones coming in much more regularly.”
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