... People have no garden food to feed on ... We have lost more than 60 percent of our land already . '' The problem is that on the Carteret Islands , a horseshoe shaped scatter of small islands around a central lagoon , nowhere is more than 1.2 meters above sea level . If anywhere was the canary in the mine forewarning us of the disaster predicted in low lying areas of the world if runaway climate change takes hold , it 's right here . Rakova says there is a growing dependency culture on the island as people rely on international aid for food , which is destroying the social and cultural fabric of the Carterets . `` This is a state of emergency , '' she says . `` Why are the rich nations ignoring the fate of the Carterets Islanders ? Are the rich nations waiting for the islanders to float before they can act and put money where their mouths are in terms of human rights ? '' It 's a cruel irony that the people with some of the lowest carbon footprints are already paying the price for the emissions of far richer countries
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- There is one holiday destination that should shake the faith of even the most vehement climate change skeptic : the Carteret Islands , part of Papua New Guinea , located northeast of Bougainville . The Carteret Islands are just one of a number of places already feeling the effects of climate change . The palm trees sway gently under a balmy sun , the beaches are perfect , and stretched out as far as the eye can see is the wide blue of the Pacific Ocean . The only problem with this idyllic scene is that the water is getting closer ; slowly but surely , as global warming bites and sea levels rise , the islands are being swallowed up , leaving the few hundred inhabitants pondering an uncertain future . `` King tides and sea surges are floodling the island to a knee high and it is difficult for the salt water to dry up , '' says Ursula Rakova , a Carteret islander and campaigner . `` Fruit trees and nut trees have lost their leaves and only skeleton branches are left standing . The only greenery is from coconut and sago palms