This handout photo taken and released by the European Commission on August 26, 2024 shows Jutta Urpilainen (left), EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, talking with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Nuku’alofa. (Photo by Izhar KHAN / European Commission / AFP)

NAKU’ALOFA, Tonga – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued an “SOS” on global climate at a Pacific Islands summit on Tuesday, presenting research showing that sea levels in the region are rising much faster than the global average.

“I am in Tonga to issue a global SOS – Save our Seas – on rising sea levels. A global catastrophe puts this Pacific paradise at risk,” he said.

Although the Pacific Islands are sparsely populated and have little heavy industry, they together account for less than 0.02 percent of global emissions per year.

But this vast arc of volcanic islands and low-lying coral atolls also lies in a tropical corridor that is rapidly threatened by ocean encroachment.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has been monitoring the tide gauges installed on the famous beaches of the Pacific since the early 1990s.

A new report from the UN’s main climate monitoring body shows that sea levels in some parts of the Pacific have risen by about 15 centimeters over the past 30 years.

The global average is 9.4 centimeters, the report says.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that we are running out of time to turn the tide,” said Celeste Saulo, chief official at the weather forecasting agency.

In some locations, notably Kiribati and the Cook Islands, increases were measured that were equal to or slightly below the global average.

However, in other locations, such as the capitals of Samoa and Fiji, the increase was almost three times as high.

In the low-lying Pacific state of Tuvalu, land is already so scarce that hordes of children are using the runway of the international airport as a makeshift playground.

Scientists warn that even under some moderate scenarios, Tuvalu could almost completely disappear from the map within the next 30 years.

“One disaster follows another and we lose the ability to rebuild and can no longer withstand another cyclone or another flood,” Tuvalu’s climate minister Maina Talia told AFP on the sidelines of the summit.

“For low-lying island states, it is a question of survival.”

Because of their relative isolation and lack of economic power, the plight of the Pacific Islands has been easily overlooked in the past.

But scientists are increasingly viewing the region as a kind of climate canary in the coal mine, pointing to the problems that other parts of the world may face.

“This new report confirms what Pacific leaders have been saying for years,” Australian climate researcher Wes Morgan told AFP.

“Climate change is their greatest security threat. Pacific nations are fighting for survival, and reducing climate pollution is key to their future.”

The South Pacific is surrounded by millions of square kilometers of tropical ocean and is particularly threatened by rising sea levels.

According to the United Nations, the vast majority of people live within five kilometers of the coast.

Rising sea levels are devouring scarce land and contaminating vital food and water sources.

Warmer waters also lead to more severe natural disasters, while ocean acidification slowly destroys the reefs that feed important marine food chains.