By: Giff Johnson, Agence France-Presse June 26, 2013 10:19 AM <\/p>\n
A handout photo shows the effects of climate change on a graveyard on the Marshall Islands atoll of Ailinglaplap, that birthplace of its president, Christopher Loeak, that is slowly sinking as sea levels rise. (AFP\/Office of Environmental Planning and Policy Coordination) <\/p>\n
InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5 <\/p>\n
MAJURO -- As the US urges world leaders to ramp up action on climate change, the leader of one small island chain in the North Pacific Ocean has already got the message -- watching helplessly as rising seas slowly erode his birthplace. <\/p>\n
The idyllic beaches on the island of Buoj where Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak fished as a boy are already submerged, and the ever-encroaching ocean now threatens to wash away roads, schools and airstrips. <\/p>\n
\"The end of the island gets shorter every year. Some places we used to stand on the beach to fish are now in the water,\" Loeak, 60, told AFP. <\/p>\n
Buoj is one of 52 islands in Ailinglaplap, an atoll that a Marshall Islands survey found was one of its most vulnerable to climate change. <\/p>\n
\"I have great attraction to Ailinglaplap,\" Loeak said in the capital, Majuro. \"I can live on other islands, but I was born and raised there. I always think about going back there to live.\" <\/p>\n
The Marshalls, an island nation of some 70,000 people about halfway between Australia and Hawaii, will have a rare moment in the international spotlight in September, when it hosts the annual Pacific Islands Forum. <\/p>\n
Loeak said he wanted to use the opportunity to send a strong message to the world, particularly larger polluting nations, about the need for action to slow down climate change. <\/p>\n
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CLIMATE CHANGE | Rising seas washing away Marshall Islands leader's home<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By: Giff Johnson, Agence France-Presse June 26, 2013 10:19 AM A handout photo shows the effects of climate change on a graveyard on the Marshall Islands atoll of Ailinglaplap, that birthplace of its president, Christopher Loeak, that is slowly sinking as sea levels rise. (AFP\/Office of Environmental Planning and Policy Coordination) InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5 MAJURO -- As the US urges world leaders to ramp up action on climate change, the leader of one small island chain in the North Pacific Ocean has already got the message -- watching helplessly as rising seas slowly erode his birthplace. Continue reading