Carteret Islands Climate Change & Rising Sea Levels - Photography

The Carteret Islands in the Pacific were the first place in the world to require population relocations due to climate change related sea level rises, with predictions they would be submerged by 2015.

However the islands are still there sitting roughly 90 kilometres from northern Bougainville, but only just — with a highest point of just 1.5 metres, the atolls are vulnerable to even slight sea level rises.

Carteret Island boys fishing - fewer fish are found in warmer waters

Carteret Island boys fishing. Warmer waters mean less coral and fewer fish. Malnutrition is a concern.

Family Walking on Beach in The Carteret Islands, Pacific Ocean, PNG.

Traditional canoes have been using the same tried and tested design for many generations.

The villagers generate very little pollution. Plastic mostly floats in from far away and some can be useful.

Spearfishing is a daily necessity for food.

Plastic toys are not an option here. Children improvise and make their own fun.

Turtle is a regular part of the diet, more so as protein from fish becomes less frequent due to dwindling fish stocks.

This boys parents lived their early years in houses located about 50 meters out to sea.

Boy in Carteret Islands along the shoreline, a region with rising sea levels

Women and girls are responsible for carrying the food. Men are tasked with collecting it for them.

There is a sense of harmony with the birds who share the islands. They are not threatened and will often just land on people.

Using powerful binoculars salvaged from sunken poachers fishing trawler.

The outer reef helps protect the beach and houses nearby. Less so as weather patterns change and the sea now comes closer than ever before.

Local Women in the Carteret Islands Bougainville prepare Sea Cucumber for Chinese buyers.

Carteret Islands Child With Piglet in Bougainville, PNG.

Small coconut husk fires help keep the sand flies away. Nights are quietly social.

Local People of Faith Gather at Easter Midnight mass in their Village Carteret Islands, Bougainville.

Childbirth here is usually at home. Only one small clinic is available, about an hour boat ride from the more distant islands. The nearest hospital is 3 to 4 hours away.

Local Boat in Bougainville Carteret Island

The school is well attended but teachers are concerned that Malnutrition affects their capacity to learn.

Birthdays are not important and the elderly will guess their age at 70 or 80.

Climate change has dramatically increased erosion of these fragile islands and the beach sits where fertile soil once did. Houses once existed where now there are meters of water at high tide.

All generations live closely and everyone contributes to daily tasks.

The small islets sit upon a large atol reef.