Until a decade ago, fishermen used it as a resting-place where they could beach their boats and slake their thirst on coconut water. Then the coconut palms disappeared, and after that the sandbanks, and now the fishing boats skim over the islet, which is totally submerged. Its coconut trees have gone, and the ocean is slowly swallowing the remaining rock. El Ni o brings stronger storm surges to the Pacific and it is these, coupled with the underlying sea-level rise, that have swamped Kiribati's motu. Both in 1997 and 1998, unusual storm surges in Kiribati and the Republic of the Marshall Islands destroyed seawalls, bridges, causeways and roads.
Coastal erosion is a continuing problem in most low-lying Pacific islands.
Some can be blamed on poor land-use, but the undeveloped coasts of outer islands are also eroding. These recent changes in climate and sea level are also creating major problems for water supplies and food production in the Pacific. In 1998, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga were all hit by devastating droughts. Fiji's sugar cane production, normally 40 per cent of its export earnings, fell by two-thirds. Tonga's squash crop, about half of its export earnings, was cut in half.