By: Priscila Néri, Posted: Jul 11 09

Regions: Oceania, Papua New Guinea

Issues: Environment, Indigenous peoples, Internally displaced persons

Tags: climate change, climate refugees, displacement, environmental justice, flooding, global warming, islands, natural disasters, rising sea levels

"The sea has moved further inland, and it continues to do so... it destroys our food gardens, it uproots coconut trees, it even washes over the sea walls that we have built... Most of our culture will have to live in memory." - Ursula Rakova, Relocation Leader, Carteret Islands -

Scientists predict that climate change will displace up to 250 million people by 2050, creating a new group of "climate refugees," or people uprooted from their homes as a direct result of environmental changes like global warming, rising sea levels, desertification, and increased natural disasters.

Small islands - many of which are located on remote, low-lying stretches of land - are particularly vulnerable to these changes (see Islands First for more).

Today's featured video, The Next Wave, takes us to one of these communities - the Carteret Islands in the South Pacific Ocean - as its residents prepare to evacuate the sinking islands. 

To learn more about the Carteret Islands, go to SunComeUp.com and watch this video produced by local residents in collaboration with the United Nations University.  For more on the human impact of climate change, explore these videos and blog posts on the Hub.