What Climate Change? A Refugee From A Drowning Country

As the IPCC has released their latest report, demonstrating that we are indeed cooking ourselves, a man claiming to be a refugee from a drowning country is arguing his case in New Zealand.

Kiribati - the new Atlantis

A man from one of the lowest-lying nations on Earth is trying to convince New Zealand judges that he's a refugee — suffering not from persecution, but from climate change.

New Zealand immigration laws prevent the release of his name.

The IPCC predicted that oceans could rise by as much as 1 meter (3.3 feet) by the end of the century. If that were to happen, much of Kiribati would simply disappear.

The 37-year-old and his wife left his home in the Pacific nation of Kiribati six years ago for higher ground and better prospects in New Zealand, where their three children were born. Immigration authorities have twice rejected his argument that rising sea levels make it too dangerous for him and his family to return to Kiribati.

So on Oct. 16, the man's lawyer, Michael Kidd, plans to argue the case before New Zealand's High Court. Kidd, who specializes in human rights cases, told The Associated Press he will appeal the case all the way to the country's Supreme Court if necessary.

The man said that around 1998, high tides began regularly breaching the sea walls around his village, which was overcrowded and had no sewerage system. He said the fouled drinking water would make people vomit, and that there was no higher ground that would allow villagers to escape the knee-deep water.

Kiribati's government is pursuing its own strategies. It has paid a deposit for 6,000 acres in nearby Fiji, which Kiribati President Anote Tong has said will provide food security and a possible refuge for future generations.

The nation has also been talking with a Japanese firm about the possibility of constructing a floating island, which would cost billions of dollars.