How many islands does tuvalu have

Even a lower-end sea-level rise of Most of the projected rise will occur because water expands as it warms, but some of it will come from the melting of glaciers and ice caps. Still, accurately gauging sea level is complicated and can quickly become a matter not of science but of politics, as Tuvaluans have recently learned.

He also found that tidal maximums and minimums were growing more extreme year by year. As of this past December, the data from the Funafuti station show that sea level has risen there an average of 0. Tuvalu and other atolls—ring-shaped coral islands surrounding a lagoon—are particularly dynamic, formed and replenished by coral gravels that break off the reefs and are tossed ashore.

Scientists generally assume that as sea level rises, sand and gravel erode away into the seabed as the shoreline recedes; accordingly, a place like Tuvalu will eventually disappear under a rising sea.

Instead, when big storms or rising sea levels send waves over a narrow atoll, he says, they can transport sand and other sediments across the island to the opposite shore. What the models projected, he says, was that waves washing over the island caused it to change shape and even move away from the reef edge, but not vanish. Rising sea levels would prod the hard coral reefs just below the water surface to grow, building up the living shelf that helps protect shorelines.

In the short run, other manifestations of climate change pose more of a threat to Tuvalu than sea level rise. Then he gives an example that shows how just a little global warming can go a long way. You get more flooding and more drought. Even waves from very distant storms can affect Tuvalu. Tuvaluans themselves tell story after story of fiercer and more frequent storms.

First comes Tepuka, where we stroll through a lush forest, swim in clear waters and swig from a coconut that Sam splits open with his machete. This is the idyllic Before. Next comes a chilling After: barren, broken Tepuka-Sa-Vilivili, barely more than a sandbar where plastic bottles and other man-made rubbish run aground. Islanders fear that a big storm could force churning seas through the pits and break through to the lagoon, flooding the island.

Residents quarried for rocks, gravel and even sand for building materials, Tekinene says, promoting erosion. These days, construction materials for big projects must be imported. At the local hospital, a specialist department has been set up to study and manage climate change-related illnesses.

Suria Eusala Paufolau left, or above on mobile , acting chief of public health, says cases of fish poisoning began to climb a decade ago; around the same time the weather really started to go haywire. Higher daily temperatures are also putting people at daily risk of dehydration, heatstroke and heat rashes, Paufolau says.

But there is always a sense of fear about what is happening to our home. Tuvalu is heavily reliant on foreign aid, with most of its GDP made up from donations from the UN and neighbouring countries.

But as climate change batters the seashore, a trickle of young Tuvaluans are returning, even if coming home can feel claustrophobic after the freedoms of life beyond the islands. When I came back I immediately noticed the difference. The heat is sometimes unbearable now, and the erosion is also dramatic. If this sounds like a tidal wave of despair, the mood on the ground is far less acute.

In the afternoons, people snooze in hammocks for hours, and light campfires on the beaches to fry fish and keep the mosquitoes away. A sleepy, sanguine air permeates day-to-day life, as locals watch the lapping of the waves move ever closer. Plans for adapting to climate change include the ongoing — and much delayed — construction of a sea wall to protect the administrative centre of the capital, funded by the UNDP.

The local town council has a plan to dredge and reclaim land at the south of Fongafale, raise the land 10 metres above sea level, and build high-density housing. Other options — such as constructing a floating island — are also being explored, as is importing refuse from Australian mines to construct an energy wall to ring the atolls, breaking up the power of the sea as it smashes towards the islands.

Many islanders use satellite dishes to watch foreign TV stations. Some key dates in Tuvalu's history:.

The captain names the island Ellice Island. Later this name was applied to all nine atolls. In Peruvian slave traders kidnap islanders - nearly two-thirds of the population of the islands of Funafuti and Nukulaelae. Tuvalu statistics. Full name: Tuvalu Capital: Funafuti. Image source, Getty Images. It is made up of a chain of 9 small coral islands. The islands are low lying. Many have large lagoons and are surrounded by coral reefs. Tuvalu achieved a successful UPR in May as a result.

At a workshop in Fiji in June , the Secretariat helped Tuvalu learn about the law and managing risk as a result of climate change.