Hi there, welcome to today's lesson.

This is a geography lesson with me, Ms. Roberts.

And today's lesson is from our unit all about coasts.

We are particularly investigating what shapes life for people who live at the coast.

And today we are thinking about the impacts of climate change in a particular area called Tuvalu, which is a small island nation in the Pacific Ocean.

By the end of the lesson today, you're going to be able to explain why some people in are at risk of becoming displaced due to climate change.

We're going to begin by looking at some key words, which you're going to hear in this lesson and that you should be able to use yourself when you are talking about these issues as well.

The first key word is climate change, and we use that what that phrase to describe the large scale long-term changes that are happening to our planet's climate.

These include weather patterns and average temperature.

Sea level.

Sea level is the average height reached by the sea or an ocean when we measure it between high tide and low tide.

Next we have elevation.

Elevation is to do with height.

The elevation of any geographical feature is how high it is above that mean average sea level.

And then finally, we have the verb, to be displaced.

This is when somebody is forced to move due to something outside human control, such as flooding.

For example, at the coast.

The first half of today's lesson is going to focus on the risks of climate change.

What are those risks for the people of Tuvalu? Then we're going to think about how that impacts Tuvalu people.

So climate change, as we have said, is about long term change in the planet's climate.

So the planet is the whole of earth.

Earth is currently becoming warmer, and this is something that's frequently referred to as global warming.

This has an impact on long-term weather patterns such as temperature and rainfall all around the world.

There is nowhere that is not undergoing change as a result of global warming.

The graph illustrates those temperature changes from 1880 up to 2020.

The impact of global warming around the world are large scale and they are long lasting.

But there are some communities that are more affected than others, in particular communities on low elevation islands.

Islands like the country of Tuvalu, Tuvalu consists of these nine small islands that you can see here on this map.

It's small island nations like these that are especially impacted by climate change, even though they are not the ones that are contributing most to it.

True or false? Can you tell me if this is true or false? Climate change only affects some parts of the planet.

What do you think? I think that is absolutely false.

Can you give me a reason why it's false? Here's an example.

I wonder if your ideas were similar.

The impacts of climate change are large scale and they are felt all around the world, but some places and people are impacted more than others.

Let's think particularly then about the island nation of Tuvalu.

The reason we are calling Tuvalu a low elevation zone is because it hardly rises above sea level.

In the picture here, what you can see is a satellite image of some of the Tuvaluan islands, and the one we are looking at is an island called Funafuti, which is actually the capital of Tuvalu, so we can see the map here, that large ring shaped island is Funafuti, and that's the island that we can see the satellite image of.

The two orange dots that join up the line that you can see on the satellite image are one side of the island of Funafuti.

And that distance is represented on the graph below the satellite image.

So you can see from this elevation profile that it hardly rises above sea level at all.

In fact, you can see where part of that island is already below sea level.

There's only one tiny little area where there's a peak that comes ever so slightly above sea level.

So what does this actually mean? Across all of the nine islands of Tuvalu, there is nowhere that is any more than about three metres above sea level.

That tiny peak that you saw on the elevation profile was no more than three metres.

It means in practical terms that low elevation zones like Tuvalu are at massively increased risk of flooding.

Why do you think that may be? Well, the main reason is because of this.

This is global sea level change between 1880 and 2020.

What can we see here, what can we tell from this map? There's a rising trend.

Global sea levels are increasing and they are yet to increase further.

This is the greatest cause of flooding in low elevation zones like Tuvalu.

And this rise globally in our sea levels is a result of climate change.

The rising sea levels are a major threat for countries like Tuvalu because they threaten to submerge entire islands through flooding.

Take a moment to complete this short activity.

Fill in the blanks to make the sentence complete.

Are you ready? Here are the answers.

Rising sea levels are a threat in low elevation zones like Tuvalu, because they increase the risk of flooding, well done.

Now, ordinarily we could build coastal defences.

We could do something like build a sea wall, for example, to protect the coastline from flooding and erosion.

But here we have a tiny low lying island.

So, where are we? Where are we actually going to put this sea wall? How are we going to actually build it above when this island itself is so low lying, it's not very practical, is it? And for low lying island nations like Tuvalu, it's very challenging to find ways to defend and protect the coastline.

Why is it so challenging? It's for many reasons, not just all to do with the coast and climate change.

There is a lack of finance and infrastructure and building materials to actually construct coastal defences.

Island nations need to have everything shipped in, and that's a hugely expensive process.

Another reason is because of the beautiful tropical locations of islands like Tuvalu.

They have lots of ecosystems like coral reefs and those ecosystems are precious.

They need to be protected for the future.

So lots of people don't want to build coastal defences because they want to protect those reefs.

Another huge reason why it's challenging to construct coastal defences anywhere, but especially in places like Tuvalu, is that there are so many different stakeholders that have an interest in the project.

And because of that, there are many debates, discussions, and delays that stop these projects sometimes from even getting started.

Before we think about this some more, let's have a quick multiple choice question on what we've learned so far.

So which of the following are major reasons why constructing coastal defences is difficult in Tuvalu? Now be careful here.

You're looking for more than one correct answer.

Have you made some decisions? Good, okay, well firstly, there may not be enough money for them.

We've said how expensive these projects can be.

And then secondly, option B, because the islands are coral reefs and atolls.

So those precious unique ecosystems need to be protected.

The other two options, they're C and D are both valid opinions that people may have, but they are not reasons why construction of defences is difficult.

So let's put this into an activity now.

Here you can see the graph that you saw earlier, which shows us that rising trend in sea level change.

I would like you to complete the paragraph using the words provided.

Pause the video to complete the task and then start again and I'll show you the answers.

Are you ready? Let's have a look.

So the graph shows a rising trend.

This means that sea levels are increasing in low elevation zones, flood risk is increasing as a result.

In these areas, it is very challenging to construct coastal defences for protection against floods.

Rising sea levels are therefore a growing concern in Tuvalu.

Did you get all of those words in the correct places? Good job.

So now we're going to move on and think about the impacts of climate change for the people in Tuvalu.

Tuvalu is a small nation, but it is home to more than 10,000 people.

A large concentration of the population lives on the island of Funafuti, which serves as the nation's capital.

The biggest residential area on Funafuti is called Fongafale.

On the other islands of Tuvalu, there are some people living there.

Each one has anywhere between 30 and 1000 people living there.

So let's have a look at this residential area on Funafuti, which is called Fongafale.

Now in Fongafale, there are many buildings and services for the people.

You can see these on this map extract.

There is an airport, there are shops, there are schools, there's a university, there are places of worship, there are libraries, government offices, hotels and residential communities.

So there are lots of things going on there that you would see in any other built up town or city.

So would you agree with this statement then? Is this true or false? Tuvalu does not have any highly populated residential areas.

What do you think? I'm going to say that's false.

It might not be as highly populated as some of the biggest global cities, but there are built up residential areas in Tuvalu.

In fact, Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu is where from Fongafale is, and that's got all of those services that we just found on the map, schools, shops, et cetera.

Everything that's needed for the people is there.

The problems that people are having in Tuvalu stem from climate change.

Climate change is continuing to happen.

Sea levels are continuing to rise, and the frequency and severity of storms and tropical cyclones increases.

These events can severely impact the lives of people in Tuvalu flooding caused by sea water as a result of rising sea level can cover entire areas, be they beaches, roads, farms, or gardens and parks.

Seawater can completely saturate those areas.

It can also enter into buildings and get into properties like people's homes and their businesses.

Seawater will also contaminate any soil that it infiltrates because of its high salt content.

This means that plants and crops can't grow and that can have severe impact for food supply for the people of Tuvalu.

So let's just have a quick multiple choice question before we move on.

Which consequences of climate change impact the lives of people of Tuvalu rising sea levels, endangered species, or more frequent storms? Ready? Did you choose A, rising sea levels? That's great, but is that the only answer? No, because more frequent storms are happening as well, and both of these things are happening to people in Tuvalu.

You can see some really extreme devastation after a tropical cyclone in this picture.

When people lose their homes in this way as a result of something totally outside their control like flooding, like tropical cyclones, they then become displaced.

This means they no longer have anywhere to live.

People have to find temporary shelters wherever they may be, and they may even need to move permanently to a new home if the area remains unsafe to inhabit, this loss of people's homes and that their possessions, everything they own and their business.

This displacement of people is a consequence of climate change.

It's a process that starts with climate change.

Climate change causes sea levels to rise.

Rising sea levels increases the risk of flooding.

Flooding means that land is lost, homes and businesses are destroyed and damaged.

And then unfortunately, Tuvaluan people can become displaced.

This is an ongoing cycle and Tuvaluan people are the ones who are perhaps suffering the most from climate change, but are the ones that contribute to it the least.

Sam and Sofia are talking about the impact of climate change in Tuvalu.

Sam says that people become displaced when they choose to migrate out of a country and live somewhere else.

Sofia says that people become displaced when they are forced to move for reasons outside their control like flooding, whose explanation is best? I would like you to decide which one you agree with most and a reason for your choice.

Have you made a choice? I think Sofia's explanation is best.

People do become displaced when they are forced to move for reasons outside their control.

Like flooding, storms, cyclones, hurricanes, they destroy people's homes.

Some people do choose to migrate outta a country and live somewhere else, but they have a plan.

They are choosing to go from A to B for a particular reason they haven't become displaced.

Here's your second activity for today, and you can see here the map and the satellite imagery of Fongafale, which is on the island of Funafuti and is home to around 6,000 people.

There are three questions about this area that I would like you to think about.

I want you to think about what this area may look like in 50 years time.

How might it change and why might those changes be taking place? I would like you to also think about why it's difficult to combat those changes for nations like Tuvalu.

And finally, what might happen to the residents of Fongafale in those coming years? Pause the video while you complete the activity and when you return, I'll share some example ideas with you.

Are you ready? Let's take a look.

So how might this area change in 50 years time? Rising sea levels threaten the islands, lands could be lost to flooding, which means homes, businesses, and infrastructure could disappear.

Why is it difficult to combat those changes? Because it's hard to build coastal defences in low elevation zones, especially when ecosystems like coral reefs need to be protected.

And finance can be hard to find what might happen to the residents of Fongafale in the coming years.

If the residents are forced to move because of those rising sea levels, then up to 6,000 people could potentially become displaced.

We've heard so much today about climate change and how it is having an impact on the lives of the people in Tuvalu.

Let's review what we now know.

We know that Tuvalu is a low elevation coastal zone.

We know that building coastal defences on small island nations can be challenging because of this low elevation.

The residents of Tuvalu could become displaced as a result of climate change.

And we know that a displaced person is someone forced to move due to something outside of their control, such as flooding.

I hope you enjoyed finding out about how Tuvalu is impacted by climate change today.

And I hope you can join me again for another lesson from this unit about what shapes life at the coast.

Bye for now.