Devastation in the South Pacific

Today I am very much saddened by the news that Hurricane Pam, with winds of 200mph, has devastated several South Pacific islands including Vanuatu and Tuvalu. UNICEF New Zealand's executive director Vivien Maidaborn has stated that "While it is too early to say for certain, early reports are indicating that this weather disaster could potentially be one of the worst in Pacific history." 

When we worked in the South Pacific, Tuvalu, a group of 9 small low-lying atolls,  was still called the Ellice Islands. With a mean height above sea level of only 6 feet, it is only too easy to imagine the devastation that a hurricane of this magnitude and the associated sea surges will have caused. These are the people who were already at the greatest risk of climate-change induced rises in sea level which will flood parts of the islands while the rising saltwater table will also destroy deep rooted food crops. Events not of their making and outwith their control.

My photograph of a group of Ellice islanders was taken in 1972.