Climate change could drown Kiribati, but the nation looks for Noah's Ark

It's a lazy Sunday afternoon in the village of Nanikai and the equatorial sun is beginning to mellow. 

The morning's catch sets the mood for the day in Kiribati.

Ataia is sitting cross-legged with his family in their debweeah — a hut on stilts with a roof made from thatched palm leaves. 

Their mood is upbeat: the morning's fish catch has been good.

One cousin strums a guitar while another plucks the ukulele and the men sing in a rich tenor while an aunt wails over the top. They clap three times to signal the end of the song. 

"That one was a love song," says Ataia, 28, who is a little intoxicated after drinking from the shared bowl of kava. 

In the background, waves pound against the coral wall. The tide is coming in.

Read the story from ABC News by Kurt Johnson - “Climate change could drown Kiribati, but the nation looks for Noah's Ark.”