An island in central Philippines is slowly sinking because of rising sea levels. Families living in Batasan Island have been dealing with this problem for years, but authorities now say the situation is getting dangerously worse.

Batasan Island

Batasan Island in the central Philippines is facing significant challenges due to rapidly rising sea levels. The rate of sea level increase around the island is three times faster than the global average, attributed to both climate change and a 2013 earthquake that altered the island's topography. The Department of Environment has declared the island uninhabitable and advised residents to relocate, warning that the island could be submerged within a decade or two.

Despite these warnings, many residents are choosing to remain, adapting their homes and infrastructure to cope with frequent flooding. Elevated buildings, including a new school, have been constructed, and families have raised floors or built additional levels to stay above the water. While these measures provide temporary relief, residents acknowledge that future generations may eventually have to leave the island.

Philippines' Batasan Island faces rising seas, residents adapt

Wading in flood water, even in death, this family on Batasan Island in central Philippines held a funeral as the sea around them rose to inundate the island. Yet they carried on like it was a fact of life. Because it is. Here, the sea encroaches for half of the year, affecting people's way of life from the extraordinary to the mundane. We have to move our things to higher ground. Even something as simple as washing our clothes becomes difficult because we have to do it in the flood. The rate of sea level rise has more than doubled since 1993. In a study published in May, scientists warned of catastrophic inland migration, even if global warming doesn't go beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius. That future is now for Batasan. Batasan Island is facing a double whammy. The waters around here are rising three times faster than the global average due to climate change and because a powerful earthquake in 2013 altered its topography. People here say they've been warned the island could be completely submerged in a decade or two. The Department of Environment has declared the island uninhabitable and has told people to relocate. Sooner or later, because the sea levels will rise and the sea levels will eat up the entire island, there will be no choice down the line. But people here refuse to move. They say they don't know any other life but the life at sea. So they've chosen to adapt instead. Construction on a new elevated school building was just completed. Students are either on stilts, have floors raised several centimeters, or have another floor built on. I had a second floor built so we can rest more comfortably because there are days when the tide rises at night time. It's manageable for now, they say, but they're also the first to admit they can only do so much and that their children may have to confront the reality of leaving the island. Barnabelo, Algecira, Batasan Island, the Philippines.

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