2015•12•02     Paris     New York Times

As cyclones, floods, storm surges, irregular rains, rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion of freshwater supplies ravage their homes, a small but substantial number of Pacific Islanders are not waiting to see their land disappear. They are getting out, or trying to.

A new study found that over the last decade, 15 percent of people in Tuvalu (population 10,857), 10 percent of people in Nauru (population 10,084) and 1.3 percent of people in Kiribati (population 103,058) moved abroad. Many others — about 10,000 — tried to migrate, but could not. Others became “internal migrants,” placing strains on the already overpopulated capitals of Funafuti, Tuvalu, and South Tarawa, Kiribati.

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