The Country That’s Sinking: Life in Tuvalu

What happens to a country when the sea rises higher than its highest hill? Tuvalu is a nation of nine tiny islands in the Pacific, home to about 10,000 people. Its highest point is just 4.5 meters above sea level. During king tides, salt water bubbles up through the ground itself. In 2023 Australia offered Tuvaluans the world’s first climate migration pathway, with 280 places a year chosen by lottery. Thousands applied. In this episode, you’ll spend a week on Tuvalu. You’ll see how people get fresh water in the middle of the ocean, why a web domain (.tv) pays a big part of the bills, why the airport runway is the town square, how the country is literally building new land, and what it feels like to win a lottery that means leaving home forever. The characters in this story are composites. The country, the treaty and the numbers are real. 💬 If you couldn’t pack a single thing, what would you take with you? Tell us below. 📚 Sources: ABC News (May 2026) — https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-21/tuv... SBS News (Jan 2026) — https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/first-... Live Science — https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/c... CNBC (2021) — https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/08/tuvalu-min... Tuvalu, Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvalu #Tuvalu #ClimateChange #Pacific #SinkingIsland #Documentary