Courtesy of Quin's Progress. Majuro, Marshall Islands
Republic of the Marshall
Islands
Capital: Majuro
Population: 53,066
Languages: English, Marshallese
Languages: Marshallese
Life in Majuro
When planes begin descent into Majuro, the island is barely visible from the window. Depending on your seat, it’d appear the aircraft was set to plunge straight into the endless azure sea beneath you. With the widest points of the atoll being little more than a few hundred metres, a visitor can feel overwhelmed by the endless expanse on either side.
Walking the streets of Majuro you’d be forgiven for believing you’d arrived in the United States. Supermarkets carry nearly everything one might find in California, from Idaho potatoes to Budweiser. A strong American military presence has remained since the atomic bomb testing at Bikini Atoll. Despite this, a Marshallese flavour inundates everything around you.
Courtesy of Christopher Michel. Majuro, Marshall Islands
The mornings are when the island’s heart beats. If you went down lone road shooting across the atoll before the heat set in, each step would reveal a country brimming with life. Markets still fill with locals selling homemade traditional cuisine like pandanus and bwiro, while fresh tuna remains readily available in the more expensive diners. Colourful clothing and guam dresses starkly contrast with the trash often seen washed ashore, our decadence is their inheritance.
“Ad Jolet Jen Anji”.
‘Our blessed inheritance from God’.
While the name of the Marshall Islands is little known by people across the world, to them their land is everything. The Marshallese people see each of their five islands and 29 atolls as a blessing from God and mourn each grain of sand lost to the sea. As the beaches disappear with each high tide, the Marshallese lament more than just the loss of their land; they despair for the future of what remains.
_edited.png)
On the horizon
Floods are worsening and droughts elongating. While life in the South Pacific always presented challenges, climate change exacerbates these problems.
​
Life on an atoll lends itself to an extreme vulnerability to these problems. Any two-storey building would loom over even the highest point in the country. With sea levels rising at a rate of 0.3 inches a year, the island is set to lose everything. As of now, sand bags and coral walls are being used to keep the encroaching tide at bay, but the long-term efficacy remains in question.
​
​
The long-term prospects of the Marshall Islands look bleak. Despite this the islands are committed to fighting for its survival. In Micronesia eight islands have already disappeared, the Marshall Islands is simply next in line. While the country has near-zero carbon emissions, the government is committed to doing even better. Climate initiatives dominate local dialogue as they soon will across the planet, Majuro is simply on the frontlines. What is occurring in the Marshall Islands is critical to global peace and security. Correctly addressing it may not save the sinking atoll, but let their loss not be in vain.