Right under their feet, she explains beneath the palm frond roof of Temuo's village school, one plate is slipping under another. Ballu splays her hand to represent the Australian Plate disappearing under the Pacific. "No soap soap," Ballu adds, jerking her left hand -- the plates snag against one another and the built-up pressure is released.
Earthquakes and tsunamis strike Vanikoro regularly, but people here are at the mercy of the forces of nature in a longer-term way, as well: On its slowly sinking course, the Australian Plate is dragging Vanikoro along into the depths.
Ballu was able to document that this is the case for the nearby island of Tegua in a well-received publication last year. That island sank nearly 12 centimeters (five inches) between 1997 and 2009, to the point that the coconut plantation now famous at global climate conferences was underwater. "The sea level rose, but three quarters of that was caused by the land's subsiding," she explains.
Mislead by Missionaries
That the UN had been premature in declaring the villagers on Tegua to be climate change refugees became clear when a large earthquake caused the island to shoot back out of the water in 2009. "The coconut plantation has been on dry land since then," Ballu says.
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