The Hungry Tide
An average two meters above sea level, the central Pacific nation of Kiribati is one of the countries in the world most vulnerable to climate change. Sea level rise and increasing salinity are threatening the lives of 105,000 people spread over 33 atolls in this remote corner of the Pacific.
Maria Tiimon, a Kiribati woman living in Sydney, has the task of alerting the world to her sinking homeland. . Shy at first, we watch her grow in confidence as she takes her countryÂ’s message to the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, and a year later to Cancun.
Right from the start, Maria struggles to find a balance between her personal life and her advocacy work. Her family back on the islands is increasingly dependent on her support, and there’s a promising relationship with a young man her father’s never met. Meanwhile back on Kiribati fragile sea walls are crumbling, and storm tides are sweeping into villages. The urbane President Tong says his county lacks the resources to fix these problems. The eventual relocation of his people is inevitable, he believes: “we have to assume the worst”.
Suddenly one day Maria receives news that her beloved father is very ill. She must return home immediatelyÂ…Â…