--- title: Kiribati: See Life on the Front Lines of Climate Change | TIME description: The island nation of Kiribati, halfway between Hawaii and Australia, is a touch of paradise. But thie way of life is under threat. Climate change could spell doom to the Pacific island's very existence. canonical: https://time.com/video/mQPqsfCg/ og:title: Kiribati: See Life on the Front Lines of Climate Change og:description: The island nation of Kiribati, halfway between Hawaii and Australia, is a touch of paradise. But thie way of life is under threat. Climate change could spell doom to the Pacific island's very existence. og:url: https://time.com/video/mQPqsfCg/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/mQPqsfCg/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kiribati: See Life on the Front Lines of Climate Change twitter:description: The island nation of Kiribati, halfway between Hawaii and Australia, is a touch of paradise. But thie way of life is under threat. Climate change could spell doom to the Pacific island's very existence. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/mQPqsfCg/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Kiribati: See Life on the Front Lines of Climate Change > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Kiribati: See Life on the Front Lines of Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): Kiribati: See Life on the Front Lines of Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mQPqsfCg.m3u8) (3:10)  _Published 2015-12-10. The island nation of Kiribati, halfway between Hawaii and Australia, is a touch of paradise. But thie way of life is under threat. Climate change could spell doom to the Pacific island's very existence._ --- Jul 27, 2023 7:18 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [2030 Cities: Climate Change Is “A Health Crisis” and Cities Are the Front Line](/video/faKC9fJq/) ### 2030 Cities: Climate Change Is “A Health Crisis” and Cities Are the Front Line [Jeff Sessions: 'I Wasn't Criticizing' Hawaii by Calling It 'an Island in the Pacific'](/video/QlvpacU1/) ### Jeff Sessions: 'I Wasn't Criticizing' Hawaii by Calling It 'an Island in the Pacific' [Islands In The Pacific Are Disappearing ](/video/oLaKeose/) ### Islands In The Pacific Are Disappearing --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] The island nation of Kiribati, halfway between Hawaii and Australia, is a touch of paradise. 33 atolls and reef islands where people live like they have for centuries. All necessities can be found in the nature. No need for money. No social classes. Plenty of time to play. But this way of life is under threat. Climate change could spell doom to Kariba's very existence. The fragile ecosystems of the reefs are becoming badly damaged by the warmer and more acidic ocean. The rising sea level has depleted the soil so crops can hardly grow and salt water has polluted the drinking water. An increasing number of people are seeking their fortunes in the capital, Tarawa. Over crowding forced people to settle on the beach, where they are even more vulnerable to the increasingly frequent extreme tides. Flooding has become a part of everyday life. Well I have this fear in me now seeing all the floods. You used to have like, I want to say [ INAUDIBLE ], but since the [ INAUDIBLE ] it's like living in two or three months time. We have this high sea level. Now we think that it's it not just from the seaside. It's coming mostly from the land and from all other sides. So it's becoming a real concern. According to the United Nations panel on climate change, the sea level rises by three millimeters every year. For [ UNKNOWN ] one of the lowest lying nations in the world, that's enough to put climate change on top of the national agenda. I know there's a lot of speculation and a lot of skepticism about the issue of climate change in the In the international arena. But for us here in Caribas it's a cross [ UNKNOWN ] issue. And meaning that it affects all areas. Within less than half a century the countries will be under water. We can look at it from another perspective as a [ UNKNOWN ] or tsunami. [ NOISE ] The government of Jerabus is building sea walls and planting mangrove trees to protect the land. But it's also preparing to lose the battle against the sea. Among other strategies the government has bought land 1300 miles away on Fiji where it could evacuate the entire population if worse came to worst. Inhabitants are already reluctantly getting used to the thought of abandoning their motherland. I really don't know how my grandchildren will be in that day. Will they give up? I know that they will move from here. But I do know where too. Are you sad that they will may not live in Kidavas. I am not sad because they are moving away from their country which is no more. Until then, it's an anxious wait. In what might become a paradise lost. [ SOUND ] ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Kiribati: See Life on the Front Lines of Climate Change","description":"The island nation of Kiribati, halfway between Hawaii and Australia, is a touch of paradise. But thie way of life is under threat. 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