Rising sea levels,
coastal erosion, extreme weather and destructive king tides have put the
low-lying archipelago on the front line of climate change. As Australia
negotiates with other countries at the Paris talks, some of its own people need
practical help now, before it’s too late.
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| The sea-wall built by locals at Saibai to keep the sea at bay during the rainy season.. |
Mebai Warusam
sits under his stilt-supported house, facing the Pacific Ocean’s turquoise waters lapping 50 metres from his
front gate. At 91, born and raised on the island of Saibai in the Torres
Strait, he is an elder visitors and locals turn to for knowledge.
A few years
ago, he says, researchers from down south travelled to Saibai. “They said, ‘If
water comes right through this island, what you will do?’ I said, ‘I will never
move from this island.’” “I will jump on my boat, tie that rope on a wongai
tree. I will live here; I will die here.”
Patimah Waia,
a teacher, underlines the point. “People are now realising that global warming
[is happening] and water is rising and Saibai is low … some people, even though
they realise its global warming that causes the water to rise, are so much in
love with the place that they don’t want to leave.”
Read The Guardian
story - “'We're sinking here': climate change laps at front door of Torres Strait Islands.”
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