00:00Imagine landing at an airport that takes almost half of an entire nation.
00:05That's not an exaggeration, but this is the real story of Tuvalu.
00:10A nation so tiny that its international airport practically slices across the island,
00:16leaving barely any space for homes, schools or markets,
00:21wherein the children of this country use the airport as a playground when there is no activity.
00:26And the capital Funa Fati isn't a bustling city,
00:30but a long snake-like strip of land narrow, fragile and surrounded by the endless Pacific Ocean.
00:38Tuvalu is a home to just about 11,000 people,
00:41yet it carries the burden of representing millions across the globe
00:46whose homes are threatened by rising sea water.
00:49This nation is not just shrinking, it's disappearing.
00:53And now, in a desperate and futuristic move,
00:57Tuvalu is preparing to move online, creating a digital replica of their entire country.
01:03So their culture, their identity can survive even if the land does not.
01:09Its foreign minister Simon Kof once stood knee-deep in seawater
01:13while addressing the world sent a chilling reminder.
01:17He said,
01:17Tuvalu may be the first country in history to vanish,
01:21not because of war, but because of climate change.
01:25Have you ever heard of a country that might disappear from the world map within your lifetime?
01:31Yes, you heard that right.
01:33This is not a scene from a movie.
01:36This is a reality of Tuvalu,
01:38one of the smallest and most endangered nations on the earth.
01:42Before we dive deeper,
01:44hello and welcome,
01:45I am Gaurang Kadam and you are watching Lokmat Times.
01:49Do hit the bell icon because today's story is about a country fighting for its survival
01:54and you need to hear the story till the end.
01:58So Tuvalu is a tiny island nation in the Pacific Ocean,
02:02halfway between Australia and Hawaii.
02:05With just over 26 square kilometers of land,
02:09it is the fourth smallest country in the world.
02:11To give you the perspective,
02:14the entire country is smaller than many airports in the entire world.
02:19And talking about its population,
02:21just around 11,000 people,
02:23that's even less than a small town in India.
02:26But here is the shocking part.
02:29Tuvalu may become the first country in the world
02:32to be wiped out by the climate change.
02:35Rising sea levels are swallowing its land inch by inch.
02:39The highest point on Tuvalu is just 4.6 meters above the sea level.
02:45That's shorter than a double-decker bus.
02:47Now you might be wondering,
02:49what is life like in Tuvalu?
02:51Here people live a simple island life.
02:55Fishing is their main source of food
02:57and coconuts grow everywhere.
02:59They even play football on grounds that sometimes flood when the tide is high.
03:05The main island, Fudafati, has a runway so narrow
03:08that kids use it as a playground when the planes aren't landing.
03:12In the last 30 years, sea levels in Tuvalu have risen by nearly 6 inches,
03:18a staggering change for a country that barely rises above the sea level.
03:22The ocean here is swallowing the land at a rate of about 5 millimeters every year,
03:28which is already 1.5 times faster than the entire global average.
03:33NASA's latest analysis say that Tuvalu experiences 5 high-tide flood days in a year.
03:40But by the 2050s, that number could rise to an alarming 25 flood days annually.
03:46But as time passes, the number of floods per year will rise to 65 flood days per year by the mid-century.
03:54And soon after, Tuvalu will experience 100 out of 365 days as flood days
03:59due to the climate rapid changes.
04:02While dealing with all negatives, here is one mind-blowing fact.
04:06Tuvalu has its own internet domain which is called .TV.
04:10The country earns millions of dollars by leasing the rights to .TV websites.
04:15In fact, this money helps Tuvalu run its government.
04:19The government has already started planning for the worst.
04:23So now the Tuvalu country is creating a digital version of the entire nation.
04:28Yes, a metaverse Tuvalu.
04:30So that even if the islands vanish, the culture, the language, the history and mainly the identity of Tuvaluans
04:38will live in the virtual world.
04:40A nation preparing to exist online because it may not exist online.
04:45Yes, that's the future we are heading into.
04:49And here's another heartbreaking reality.
04:52Some Tuvaluans are slowly migrating especially to New Zealand and Australia
04:56because their homeland is shrinking.
04:58So imagine being forced to leave your birthplace not because of war, not because of poverty
05:04but because of the ocean which is swallowing it.
05:08The world has made promises at climate conferences to help Tuvalu.
05:13But for the people living there, time is running out.
05:17By the year 2100, scientists have already warned that Tuvalu may be completely uninhabitable.
05:25That's less than 75 years from now on.
05:28So now, here is the big question.
05:31Will Tuvalu survive or will it become the first nation to disappear beneath the waves?
05:37And here is what I want you to think.
05:39Tuvalu's fight is not just Tuvalu's problem.
05:43Rising sea levels, melting ice caps and extreme weather.
05:47It affects all of us.
05:49What's happening to Tuvalu today could happen to anyone of us and any city in the entire world.
05:56Mumbai, New York, Tokyo or Sydney.
06:00If you care about the planet, if you care about the future, let Tuvalu's story be your wake-up call.
06:05Don't forget to like this video, share it with your friends and subscribe to Lokmat Times for more such eye-opening stories.
06:13Because the story of Tuvalu is not about a sinking country.
06:17It's about a sinking future for all of us.
06:21So now, let's go.
06:30Let's go.
06:30Let's go.
06:31Let's go.
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