Extract from ABC News
For generations, Indigenous Australians have thrived on the islands in the Torres Strait – but rising sea levels, more extreme weather and coastal erosion are devouring some of the 17 inhabited islands in the region and threatening their way of life.
Scientific modelling suggests that some of the low-lying islands could become uninhabitable within decades if global temperatures keep rising at the current rate.
"If this happens, we'll be climate change refugees in our own country," Torres Strait Islander Kabay Tamu told 7.30.
"It's going to be so traumatising.
"It's really scary to think about that."
In the east of the Torres Strait, Yessie Mosby says climate change has made his island home an increasingly desolate place.
Fresh water from a well that once sustained generations of Torres Strait Islanders has now turned to salt water and parts of the reef around the island that were once abundant with shellfish are now filled with sand.
"The reef outside, it looks like a desert," Mr Mosby said.
"Our ancestors survived off drinking fresh water along the wells they dug out through this island.
"Most of the wells are near the shorelines now — they used to be inland.
"All the water [has] now become brackish. It used to be drinkable — [it's] not drinkable anymore."
'Our human rights are being violated'
Boigu Island priest Stanley Marama is one of eight Torres Strait Islanders who accuse the Australian Government of failing to address the climate impacts that threaten their homes and culture.
They've taken their case to the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva.
"[The] Government should help us right now — not tomorrow, not next year," Mr Marama told 7.30.
In a statement to 7.30, Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said the Morrison Government is "confident its climate change policies are consistent with international human rights obligations" and are "committed to providing infrastructure supports to Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal people in the Torres Strait."
"Geographic circumstances heighten the Torres Strait region's vulnerability to several climate change threats … the government is aware of the risks and is helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities build their resilience and prepare for the impacts of climate change."
What the scientific modelling shows
How much the world warms in coming decades could determine whether the cultural traditions of the Torres Strait survive.
The average global temperature has already increased by 1.1 degrees and will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius within the next 20 years if it continues on the current trajectory.
For the residents in the Torres Strait, time is running out.
Scientific modelling suggests the sea level there could rise about 80 centimetres by the end of this century, which would mean the kinds of devastating weather events that normally occur once every 100 years could hit low-lying islands like Boigu every few days.
"Probably in the last 10 years, I've seen about 20 metres of land being washed away," Mr Tamu told 7.30.
In 2019, this group of Torres Strait Islanders asked Prime Minister Scott Morrison to come and see the impacts of climate change on the Torres Strait for himself — but the PM declined the invitation.
"It's pretty hard to see weather patterns change in Canberra," he said.
Heather Zichal was a Climate Adviser during the Obama administration and she says meaningful action on the climate crisis needs to begin now.
"We have so much work to do," Ms Zichal said.
Locals determined to stay put
Masig Island resident Hilda Mosby hopes that building higher seawalls will protect the island — at least in the short term.
As they wait for construction to start on Masig Island, locals struggle to keep the rising sea from inundating the community.
"We're doing everything we can to stay where we are," she said.
But London-based environmental lawyer Sophie Marjanac, who is working on the United Nations case, says Australian authorities need to plan for the worst — which means preparing to relocate some low-lying island communities.
"Our clients' islands are between
three and 10 metres above sea level, so they're particularly vulnerable
to the impacts of sea level rise," she told 7.30.
"Unfortunately, the science tells us that in the coming decades, some of these island communities will become uninhabitable.
"Planning for that really needs to begin now."
Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said further climate impacts were now unavoidable in the Torres Strait.
"But we can help those communities prepare as best as possible," she said.
The scientific consensus suggests the world has about a decade to prevent some of the worst impacts of climate change from occurring — and many of the island communities in the Torres Strait hope their homes will be spared.
"I want us to live here for as long as we can," Mr Tamu said.
7.30's four-part special on climate change begins Monday night — tune in on ABC TV and iview.
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