Tonga pleads with the world: Global warming is real and is affecting us today. Save our pacific island 😢
Two different islands, neither in Tonga
There’s only one problem: the picture shows two different islands, neither of which is in Tonga.
The top photo is Kwajalein Island and the bottom photo is Ebeye Island. Although both in the Kwajalein Atoll they are not the same island and are part of the Marshall Islands, a long way from Tonga!
I’m neither arguing for or against rising sea levels, I’m simply the type of person who, when confronted with a spreading Facebook meme, likes to do research and get my facts straight. I also thought that the photos looked like two different islands and, probably like you, saw some internet discussion claiming that the top is Kwajalein island while bottom is Ebeye. However, I found this archival photo from someone who lived on the island. It is the same island from the top photo (in fact, it looks like a different cropping of the same exact photo) and it is clearly labelled as Ebeye Island. I haven’t been able to get a good source confirming the bottom island and was wondering what was your evidence for claiming that it is Ebeye (which would support the claim in the meme)? The best reference I could find is this page which uses the same bottom photo. The article makes no mention of the island in the photo but the name of the file itself is “Ebeye-Island-feat.jpg”. At this point, I am forced to concede that these are in fact the same island, but that doesn’t mean that what we’re looking at is due to global warming, either. But that’s another discussion.
TOP PHOTO:
http://mcnerney.us/kwaj/index.php?_year=1971&_month=August
BOTTOM PHOTO:
http://ywamships.net/ywam-ships-brings-hope-to-isolated-marshallese-families/