Misrepresenting the facts.
- - At the turn of the century two of their uninhabited islets (Tebua Tarawa and Abanuea) had been covered by the sea. - -
The construction of a causeway between Betio and Bairiki islands in the 1980s directly lead to a change in local currents that submerged the tiny islands of Bikeman and Abanuea during the 1990s.
In a nut shell the causeway caused a change in local tides by altering the flow of water in the area. A common event when building causeways.
Mainly through erosion, the low lying islands vanished. They were uninhabited because they hardly existed at all at high tide. They were doomed by the current change.
This was not a global warming related event. Manmade disaster? Yes
Also, if you understood anything about how these islands were formed in the first place you would know that mother nature has an expiration date on them the moment they are formed.
They are fragile islands by natures own design. Mans over development of them can only hasten their natural demise.
