[앵커]
Recently, you will often hear regarding the unusual climate caused by global warming, such as unusual heat waves and heavy rains around the world.
A village in Fiji, an island country in the South Pacific, is said to be in danger of disappearing altogether as sea levels rise due to climate change.
Reporter Jae-hyeop Park visited the site for some reason.
[기자]
About an hour and a half drive from the Fiji capital, Suva, you arrive at a small seaside town of 900 people.
The seas where blue corals should grow are full of black reefs.
The beach covered with white sand has long since disappeared.
The children are playing innocently on the gravel field, not the white sandy beach.
As the sea level rises, the seawater sweeps away the sand, and now you can see the roots of trees.
[타니야랑 오네라라 / 피지 나마타쿨라 : 마을의 생활에 영향을 주고 있습니다. 흙이 쓸려 내려가고 해변 유실로 씻겨 내려가 버리고 있습니다. 그래서 개울과 해안 주변에서 사는 마을이 위험해지고 있습니다.]
The same is true of the neighboring town.
When the seaside houses were built, the distance between the sea and the village was quite far, but as the sea level rises and the coastline erodes due to climate change, the distance between the home and the sea has become so close.
At high tide, there have been many times when large waves like never before were formed and the seawater invaded the house.
[라사로 / 피지 나볼라 : 지난 2년간 높은 파도가 치면 바닷물이 저희 집안까지 들어 왔습니다.]
Nam-geon Cho, a Korean who has lived in this area for 20 years, is witnessing the changes in the village and is realizing the climate crisis that is imminent.
[조남건 / 피지 나볼라 : 이곳에서 20년 이상 있었기 때문에 마을의 모습을, 변화되는 모습을 봐왔거든요. 밀려들어 오는 파도가 집 안까지 밀고 들어 올 때가 있거든요. 그런 빈도가 점점 많아지고 있는 거예요.]
In order to put out the fire immediately, a breakwater has been built around the coastline with support from the British government since September last year, but it is not enough.
Climate experts warn that the South Pacific island nations might disappear completely within the 21st century due to rising sea levels due to global warming.
Residents who are at risk of disappearing the entire village,
I sincerely hope that climate change will be recognized as an urgent survival issue for all mankind.
[이노시 쿠리드라니 / 피지 나마타쿨라 : 저기 자갈로 덮여 있는 곳에 산호초가 있었어요. 물고기도 서식했었죠. 지금은 다 없어져 버렸죠. 기후 변화 때문에요. 기후변화에 대처하기 위해선 저희 목소리에 귀 기울여야 합니다.]
This is Jaehyup Park from YTN World in Namatacula, Fiji.
YTN Jaehyup Park (parksy@ytn.co.kr)
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