Island Nation Considers Abandoning Ship, Going Mobile

Kiribati, a tiny island nation south of Hawaii, is facing a mounting threat from climate change. President Anote Tong is apparently seriously considering putting all 100,000 of Kiribati's people onto a manmade floating island.

1 minute read

September 20, 2011, 12:00 PM PDT

By Tim Halbur

At a meeting of Pacific Island governments last week, Tong said he was looking at a number of options to save his people from the rising tides, including manmade floating islands.

Quoted in The Guardian, President Tong said, "If you're faced with the option of being submerged, with your family, would you jump on an oil rig like that? And [I] think the answer is 'yes'."

John Vidal of The Guardian uses the Kiribati proposal as a jumping-off point to look at several manmade islands around the world, and also a couple of floating island designs such as Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut's "Lilypad" concept and Bangkok architects S+PBA "floating wetropolis."

FULL STORY: Artificial island could be solution for rising Pacific sea levels

Tuesday, September 20, 2011 in The Guardian U.K.

Infrastructure Land Use Asia-Pacific Floating Islands Kiribati

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