So, yesterday I was hunting around the web trying to find an old link for a radio interview I did. I found it through the radio station’s facebook page. As part of the link, they had included a little sub-heading saying ‘Marita Davies has penned her first children’s book ‘Teaote and the Wall‘, telling the story of Kiribati people whose beach side homes face inundation to rising sea levels’.
Pretty straight forward right?
Well some smart arse made a comment under the link writing ‘Seeing as it’s about climate change it will be in the fiction section.’
Smart. Arse.
I bet he didn’t even click on the link.
I suppose it’s disheartening because climate change is so real for Pacific Islanders, there are people out there refusing to read ready information and just commenting like they still have a researched opinion. But, that’s the world we live in.
In saying all this, I am super super super excited for the release of Before The Flood.
Before The Flood is a documentary lead by Leonardo DiCaprio. Throughout the film, Leonardo travels around the globe, observing and researching the climate crisis our world faces. He speaks to scientists, world leaders, politicians, religious leaders and discusses with them the state of our earth.
For I-Kiribati people, we will be particularly proud that Kiribati is highlighted and Anote Tong is featured in the film.
Here is the write up about him on the website:
Anote Tong President, Kiribati
Anote Tong is the former President of Kiribati (2003 to 2016) and an outspoken advocate for addressing climate change in the Pacific region. With one of the lowest carbon-emission footprints in the world, Tong has often described Kiribati as a “frontline country” that has been among the first to experience dramatic climate change impacts. President Tong has won a number of awards and recognition that acknowledges his contribution and leadership on climate change and ocean conservation.
I am so excited for this film. I truly believe it will be one of the defining climate change focused films of our time and will hold a valuable place in our history. Fingers crossed anyway. Ever the optimist and believer of the power of art, I think this will change our world for the better.
And the best bit? We can all stream the film for FREE via National Geographic Channels until November 7th. Here’s the link! I think you all know what I’m doing tonight.
So here’s to spreading the word, learning more and listening to people who live with a genuine and immediate threat to climate change.
#beforetheflood
The Little Island That Could 
Kiribati. Not drowning, waving.
How about getting some the facts correct about global warming. It was a vehicle for the ex-President to get a warm well paid seat in the UN. Buying $9 million of unusable land in Fiji as a stunt.
Start with some reading from leaders in their field:
Sustainability Science, July 2013, Volume 8, Issue 3
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627633.700-shapeshifting-islands-defy-sealevel-rise.html
rock.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/19/3/pdf/i1052-5173-19-3-4.pdf. From that article, Table 1
http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/?q=0209/0209_feature.html
Quoting from the December 1988 IPCC charter.
Not only does it bullhorn the notably unscientific bias of the U.N. (“human activities could change global climate patterns … the cause and effect relationship of human activities and climate”), not only does it promote the “C” in “Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming” (“threatening present and future generations with severe economic consequence [and] and eventual rise in sea levels, the effects of which could be disastrous for mankind”), but it also states the core value of the U.N. and the IPCC, which in a nutshell is “gimme, gimme, gimme.”
To wit, the U.N. General Assembly “Urges governments … to undertake and promote specific, co-operative action-oriented programmes and research … and to contribute, as appropriate, with human and financial resources to efforts to protect the global climate.”
All three of the above points are woven throughout the charter in deliciously evasive U.N.-speak. It’s important to point back to this 28 year old charter, because it does much to explain the scientific sloppiness, brazen kleptomania, and amazing tunnel vision of today’s CAGW promoters.
Click to access UNGA43-53.pdf
Since 1993, when the NTC SEAFRAME gauge was installed, a straight regression gives 2.7 mm/year. However, this includes a large El Niño dip starting in 1997 which drops the start of the trend line. If this is excluded, the more realistic rate is 1.1 mm/year. GPS data shows Tarawa to be rising at about 5 mm/year.in recent years (roughly equal to the rate of drop in sea level), though the rate alternates between positive (up) and negative (down) over the record since 1993, with little net change since then.
It isn’t well known that Charles Darwin brilliantly deduced how and why coral atolls formed over geologic time. He somehow came to understand that atolls were originally shallow reefs which formed a fringe around an oceanic volcano. The volcano would then, due to geologic forces, slowly subside into the depths due to the forces which drive plate tectonics (unknown in Darwin’s day), and the fringing reef would also drop. But the reef would then build back up to the surface by coral growth and deposition of coral parts on the atoll. The end result over time is the reef at the surface, and the volcano slipping down to the depths.