Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/10/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303680404579139712422234806?KEYWORDS=kiribati AUCKLAND, New Zealand?A Pacific Island man is seeking a novel type of residency here: climate change refugee. The 37-year old man, Ioane Teitiota, told a court on Wednesday that rising seas and environmental risks caused by global warming made it too dangerous to return to his homeland of Kiribati. Mr. Teitiota's request, which experts say is unlikely to be granted, came after New Zealand's immigration tribunal rejected the argument in a closed-door hearing earlier this year. The High Court in Auckland said it expected to rule on his petition in the next two weeks. Kiribati, comprised mainly of a group of coral reefs near the equator, is among the world's lowest-lying nations, with most of its mass just one or two meters above sea level. Worries over the impact of rising sea levels prompted the Kiribati government to buy 2,430 hectares (6,000 acres) of land in neighboring Fiji earlier this year to grow food and potentially resettle some of its 100,000 people if the country were to become uninhabitable.