It’s no longer just a handful of desert islets making headlines as places flooded for the first time due to climate change. They are becoming small cities with thousands of residents, sometimes preparing for evacuation because they are sinking and could cease to exist within about thirty years. This marks a new phase in a process that is irreversible, growing more crowded and dramatic with each passing decade. That is climate change.
Tangier is a community on a low-lying island in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. Every millimeter of sea level rise may seem tiny to many, but for neighborhoods like this, it translates into inches of land disappearing. Population data show a decline from roughly 1,100 in 1900 to about 436 as land flooding accelerated over the decades, with projections suggesting the habitable land could vanish within 15 to 30 years.
Tangier in the Chesapeake region stands as a stark example of the human toll that rising waters impose on coastal settlements. The island’s gradual subsidence and shoreline erosion leave residents facing a future where displacement becomes a reality for a growing number of communities.
The human and social drama in Tangier serves as a warning for larger coastal cities across the United States. Residents of Virginia’s last fishing community may soon become climate refugees. Studies by researchers at a major university show Tangier has lost a significant portion of its land mass since the mid-19th century due to warming oceans and rising seas.
Researchers examined two possible paths: building defenses to protect the island from flooding or relocating all residents. The cost of sea walls, dredging, and other infrastructure to preserve the island is estimated between $250 million and $350 million. Relocating all 436 residents is projected to be cheaper, between $100 million and $200 million.
Also in the UK
Across the Atlantic, in North Wales, the seaside town of Fairbourne is anticipating a dismantling that could occur by 2054. About 700 residents will be affected as authorities deem it unsafe to live there any longer. These locals would become Britain’s first climate refugees.
“They condemned the people. Now they have to move people. There are about 450 houses,” notes a local council leader. “If they want us to leave by 2054, they must provide suitable accommodation.”
Most residents are retired or families drawn to a natural, open lifestyle. Yet the reality is changing due to decades of CO2 emissions and ongoing sea-level rise. Scientists report water levels rising about 10 centimeters in the past century, with forecasts suggesting increases ranging from 70 centimeters to one meter by 2100 depending on emissions trends. Fairbourne sits on a brackish marsh, effectively at sea level, sharing a common challenge with Tangier.
Authorities invested millions in a seawall and a three-kilometer barrier system to shield against storms. Still, experts warn there is no cure for every coastline: “We have to be realistic, we can’t protect the entire coast,” says an engineering professor from a major university.
The projection is stark: the number of coastal properties at flood risk in the UK could reach half a million within three decades, and 1.5 million by 2080.
Tuvalu’s hopeless case
Yet Fairbourne is not the only region facing this fate. Tuvalu, a small island nation in the Pacific, along with Kiribati, Samoa, and Fiji, highlights a similar plight. Unlike communities in Britain and North America, Tuvalu is physically distant from major landmasses, making any potential relocation far more challenging.
Tuvalu gained visibility at a major international summit when a government official spoke via videoconference with water up to his knees, wearing a suit and flanked by national flags. The message was clear: the nation is sinking, and the world must listen.
“We are sinking, but the same thing is happening to many others,” the spokesperson remarked.
Tuvalu is tiny—about 26 square kilometers and home to around 12,000 people. It has its own airport, bank, school, library, and hostels. The highest point is only four meters above sea level. Climate experts warn that most habitable land is already underwater during normal tides, and every additional millimeter of sea rise enlarges both floods and their depth.
A new ecological challenge accompanies the rise in salinity: groundwater contamination. The population largely depends on rainwater, and the few crops that can tolerate salt, such as breadfruit, are vulnerable to salt intrusion.
Tuvalu belongs to the Alliance of Small Island States, a coalition that includes Caribbean and Indian Ocean nations. The leaders of such states have long argued that small island states contribute minimally to global emissions yet bear a disproportionate burden from climate impacts.
The climate debate continues to hinge on global cooperation, resilience funding, and practical adaptation strategies for communities facing imminent displacement and loss of homeland.