Time to leave?

I photographed these South Pacific islanders in 1972. Their homeland, known then as the Gilbert Islands but now as Kiribati, consists of some 32 coral atolls straddling the equator none of which rises more than a few metres above the sea level. Thanks to global warming and the consequent rising of sea-level some of the atolls are already disappearing beneath the ocean and growing crops is increasingly difficult due to salination of the ground water. The islanders face an increasingly desperate future not of their own making.

Looking ahead Kiribati is considering purchasing land in Fiji to help secure a future. Kiribati's President Anote Tong is in talks to buy 23 sq km (9 sq miles) on Fiji's Vanua Levu island. The land is wanted to settle some 500 Kiribati farmers who will grow vegetables, fruit and meat to be sent back home and also to extract rock and earth for sea defences on some of the atolls.

President Tong has said climate change is a daily battle for Kiribati, and one that his country would ultimately lose. As a last resort, at some point in the future, the entire Kiribati population of more than 100,000 may well have to be re-located elsewhere in the South Pacific, bringing to an end a way of life that has gone on since the 11th Century.

Yes, things are that serious. It puts our own problems well into perspective.