Sarah Hemstock (University of the South Pacific) came to visit the Cabot Institute on 20 March 2013 and presented the case study “Impacts of international aid on climate change adaptation in Tuvalu”. Here I sum up the main points raised by Sarah during her lecture. Please note all figures mentioned below are from Sarah's talk. Tuvalu Climate change Tuvalu is a microcosm for what is going on with climate change globally. There are issues with waste management, sea level rise, politics, energy, food production and others. Tuvalu grows taro, a staple carbohydrate which is sensitive to saltwater. Due to rising sea levels, Tuvalu is affected by high tides called king tides. These tides can contaminate agricultural land with saltwater and thus the staple crop will not grow. Flood defences have been built by aid agencies to try to stop sea level rise. Unfortunately they do not work as seawater bubbles up through the island at king...
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