Tuvaluans find tough shelter from rising seas

Small, low-lying island nations are increasingly facing a bleak future as sea levels rise due to climate change and in the Pacific some of these countries, which sit a few meters above sea level, could be underwater by the end of the century, experts said.

Amid the environmental threat, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stunned participants of the recent Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands when he announced that Australia will grant Tuvalu's 11,000 inhabitants full residency rights to settle in Australia.

Formerly known as the Ellice Islands, Tuvalu is part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean and is being slowly reclaimed by the sea.