Tebunginako Explained

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]

References

1.9166°N 172.9459°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: Office of Te Beretitent - Republic of Kiribati Island Report Series. 4. Abaiang. 2012 . 2 May 2015.
2. Web site: In Kiribati, a way of life is being washed away. The Age. 2009-11-20.
3. Web site: A Kiribati Village Slowly Succumbs To The Sea Around It. NPR. 2012-12-01.
4. Web site: Technical report, analysis of coastal change and erosion - Tebunginako village, Abaiang, Kiribati . 2006-03-22 . Arthur . Webb . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230325if_/http://www.srf.ch/sendungen/aequator/content/download/3845586/56562354/version/2/file/SPAC%20report%20Tebunginako.pdf . 3 March 2016 . dead.
5. Web site: Tebunginako Village : Climate Change. 28 May 2013.
6. Web site: Rising Seas Not the Only Culprit Behind Kiribati's Woes. Inter Press Service. 2013-08-20.
7. Web site: 11 Islands That Will Vanish When Sea Levels Rise. Business Insider.
8. Web site: Office of Te Beretitent - Republic of Kiribati. Tebunginako Village . 28 April 2015.