PACIFIC – A slow but certain human exodus is under way across the Pacific as global warming unleashes a barrage of cyclones, floods, storm surges and droughts, a report warns.

Thousands of people have already fled island nations such as Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru which, because of their poverty and proximity to the sea, represent the “ground zero” of climate change.

As Europe grapples with its own refugee crisis triggered by the war in Syria, there’s mounting evidence that people in Pacific island nations are starting to move due to the impact of climate change.

One in 10 people in three Pacific nations surveted has migrated in the past decade as global warming boosts sea levels, eroding the land around their homes and destroying crops and groundwater.

The report finds that 15 per cent of the population of Tuvalu have migrated in the past decade – that’s about 1500 people –and leaves the population at about 10,800.

A tenth of the population of Nauru has abandoned the island over the same period, leaving it with just over 10,000 inhabitants. Fiji, New Zealand and Australia are the most popular migratory destinations.

About 3.2 per cent of the combined 124,000 inhabitants of Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru have left their islands to live in other countries, according to the survey by the United Nations University and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Another 7.5 per cent moved internally.

It also revealed that more than 70 per cent of households surveyed in Kiribati and Tuvalu and 35 per cent of those in Nauru, say family members would be willing to move if the impact of climate change worsened.

“Pacific islanders are facing the brunt of climate change impacts and are increasingly finding themselves with few options,” Enele Sopoaga, the prime minister of Tuvalu, said in a statement.

Alison Woodhead, of Oxfam, added: “People living in low-lying island nations have done almost nothing to cause climate change but are already facing rising sea levels and extreme weather, forcing some from their homes.”

The findings released at the UN global warming talks in Paris underscore the risks of climate change unsettling whole populations, suggesting industrialised countries will have to cope with increasing migration in the years ahead.

The data from the UN University included economic migrants as well as those moving for environmental reasons. The survey highlights a trend that’s only likely to grow as rising temperatures force up sea levels and make rainfall patterns more erratic.

Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru are among 195 countires attending two weeks of UN discussions in the French capital to forge a new deal to fight global warming. They’re pushing for tougher limits on global warming and a mechanism to address the so-called “loss and damage” they’re experiencing largely as a result of rising sea levels.

“Most households in all three Pacific countries have been impacted by climate change over the past 10 years,” the researchers wrote.

“This motivates some people to search for new homes, either to ensure a source of income or to find land on which to live.”

The researchers projected that international migration would increase sharply by 2055 from all three island states.

Dr Koko Warner, of the United Nations University and the report’s author, said: “Climate change poses an existential threat for so many people in the Pacific, who are right in the front line and there’s not much more stress that they can take.

“Any treaty agreed in Paris over the next fortnight must recognise the significance of climate change migration. It must offer financial support and there must be tangible actions on the ground to help countries get prepared.”

The problems already being experienced by the Pacific islands should act as a warning for the rest of the world, Dr Warner said, pointing out that 70 per cent of the world’s major cities lie within one kilometre of the coast.

“This raises the prospect of mass migration later this century which would cause a colossal flow of refugees,” she said. “We are closer than we think to the impact of climate change.”

“This is not only a Pacific issue; it is a global issue. All countries will be affected by people on the move in relation to climate change, whether they are the country of origin, transit or destination,” she added.

- PNC sources