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REPUBLIC OF KIRIBATI

King Tides

On the 8th and 9th February 2005, king tides struck Kiribati with waves of up to 2.8 meters high reaching sea walls and damaging homes. A report from the environmental group, Greenpeace, has indicated that a number of villages suffered major damage with drinking water and farms contaminated by salt water. The report also indicated that Betio hospital has been flooded.

Greenpeace said that the damage underlines the need for the world's industrial polluters to take seriously the problem of global warming, and the attendant rise in sea levels.

The following images and text have been kindly made available by Greenpeace.

A family living next to the sea re-enforce their property with a sea
wall made of sand bags to stop the 'king tides' from eroding their land. 

A family living next to the sea, in the village Betio, are struck by the
high waves from the 'king tide' which came to the fragile atoll this week. 

A family living next to the sea in the village of Betio, pull themselves
from the high waves of the 'king tide' which came to the fragile atoll
this week, peaking today at 2.87 metres.
 
 
A young boy stands next to his house after a 'king tide'
floods his family's low lying land in Buota village, Tarawa. 

Waves from the 'king tide' force their way inside
Tiaon Bwere's house, in the village of Betio, Tarawa.

A young girl living next to the sea watches the sea water during a
'king tide' wash over a wall built by her family to protect their
land from erosion by the encroaching sea. 

All Photos © Greenpeace/J.Sutton-Hibbert
GREENPEACE HANDOUT - NO ARCHIVE - NO RESALE - OK FOR ONLINE REPRO

 

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(E-mail: jane@janeresture.com -- Rev. 20th December 2005)

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