Tebunginako is a village on Abaiang atoll in Kiribati; to its west is Ubanteman, and to its south are Borotiam and Koinawa. [1]
The settlement had been dealing with seawater inundation and coastal instability since the 1970s, [2] and is being abandoned. [3] A report by the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission determined that natural erosion was the primary factor, as the village was located close to the site of a blocked ocean/lagoon channel, [4] The Kiribati government [5] [6] has blamed sea level rise caused by global warming. [7]
Erosion was so great that the village had to be abandoned. The remains of about 100 thatched homes and a maneabe (community meeting hall) are now up to 30 metres offshore. [8] The villagers relocated themselves further inland, with the new village retaining the same name. The sea reaches what was the fishpond creating a peninsula with the Roman Catholic church standing on one side of the bay and the village on the other side. [1]
1°55′00″N 172°56′45″E / 01.91657°N 172.94588°E
Tebunginako is a village on Abaiang atoll in Kiribati; to its west is Ubanteman, and to its south are Borotiam and Koinawa. [1]
The settlement had been dealing with seawater inundation and coastal instability since the 1970s, [2] and is being abandoned. [3] A report by the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission determined that natural erosion was the primary factor, as the village was located close to the site of a blocked ocean/lagoon channel, [4] The Kiribati government [5] [6] has blamed sea level rise caused by global warming. [7]
Erosion was so great that the village had to be abandoned. The remains of about 100 thatched homes and a maneabe (community meeting hall) are now up to 30 metres offshore. [8] The villagers relocated themselves further inland, with the new village retaining the same name. The sea reaches what was the fishpond creating a peninsula with the Roman Catholic church standing on one side of the bay and the village on the other side. [1]
1°55′00″N 172°56′45″E / 01.91657°N 172.94588°E