BBC Learnings · Section 2

Island life Is it paradise

What do Britain, Greenland, Australia, Hawaii and Cuba all have in common, Rob? Are you planning your summer holidays, Sam?

Level: B2 · 83 sentences

Transcript

  1. What do Britain, Greenland, Australia, Hawaii and Cuba all have in common, Rob?
  2. Are you planning your summer holidays, Sam?
  3. Or is it that they're all islands?
  4. That's right, Rob.
  5. They are all islands, but that's about all they have in common.
  6. There's as much variety in the world's islands as in the people who live there.
  7. In tourist holiday magazines, Pacific islands like Fiji,
  8. Tonga and Tahiti look like paradise with tropical rainforests,
  9. white sandy beaches and turquoise blue sea.
  10. But in reality, life is far from paradise for these island communities.
  11. In 2022, the island of Tonga suffered a tsunami,
  12. a huge wave caused by an earthquake that flowed inland,
  13. killing people and causing large-scale damage.
  14. The destruction was terrible and added to the continuing crisis of rising sea levels threatening the island's survival.
  15. In this programme, we'll be hearing some Pacific Islander voices and as usual,
  16. learning some new vocabulary too.
  17. But first, I have a question for you, Rob.
  18. We already named some islands, large and small,
  19. but how much of the world's population do you think lives on an island?
  20. Is it A, 11%?
  21. B, 15%? Or C, 20%?
  22. Oh, that's a tricky question.
  23. It can't be that many, so I'll guess A, 11%.
  24. OK, Rob. I'll reveal the correct answer at the end of the programme.
  25. The South Pacific is home to thousands of low-lying islands dotted across miles of Pacific Ocean.
  26. With rising sea levels,
  27. it's predicted that many of these islands will simply disappear in coming years.
  28. And if that wasn't bad enough,
  29. the effects of climate change are making life difficult for these island communities right now.
  30. The tsunami that hit Tonga left the main island, Tonga Tapu, in ruins.
  31. One of those leading the clean-up was Offa Mayasi Kasami,
  32. manager of the Pacific Climate Change Centre.
  33. She told BBC World Service programme Business Daily the extent of the problem.
  34. The projected impacts of climate change on agriculture and fisheries will undermine food production systems in the Pacific.
  35. Our Pacific people are also dependent on crops, livestock,
  36. agriculture, fisheries, handicrafts for food security and income.
  37. And these sectors are also highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
  38. The economy of many islands like Tonga depends on tourism,
  39. farming or fishing and on handicrafts.
  40. skillfully making traditional objects like jewellery, textiles or pottery by hand.
  41. These are usually sold to tourists, but when tsunamis keep the tourists away,
  42. local jobs become vulnerable, unprotected and open to damage.
  43. This affects not only handicrafts,
  44. but Tonga's ability to produce enough food to feed its population,
  45. something known as food security.
  46. As the effects of climate change hit the local economy,
  47. young people are leaving Tonga to find work elsewhere.
  48. Tonga Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship is a project working with local organisations
  49. to help young people start businesses and find jobs.
  50. Here's project director Lucia Latu-Jones speaking with BBC World Service's Business Daily.
  51. So, you know, it can be emotional.
  52. very emotional and heartbreaking to see what's happening in our island.
  53. But it's even harder when you see young people coming through just looking for a chance,
  54. looking for a chance to help their families,
  55. for them to get on their feet again.
  56. The question we ask ourselves as an organisation is how can we address these challenges
  57. to better support our people
  58. so that they can get back on their feet,
  59. you know, feed their families.
  60. We can hear the emotion in Lucia's voice when she describes the situation facing young Tongans as heartbreaking,
  61. causing strong feelings of sadness.
  62. She says her role is to help people
  63. get back on their feet
  64. an idiom which means be able to function again
  65. after having difficulties in life.
  66. The many problems Tongans face are made worse by perhaps the biggest problem of all – the fact that poverty,
  67. hunger and the loss of their traditional culture
  68. is being caused by the carbon emissions of larger countries
  69. halfway around the world.
  70. If we all learn to adapt our lifestyle, just as Pacific Islanders have done,
  71. it may not yet be too late to change the fate of their island paradise.
  72. And the fate of the millions living on other islands too,
  73. which reminds me of my question, Rob.
  74. 11% of us are islanders, which works out as over 730 million people.
  75. OK, let's recap the vocabulary from this programme,
  76. starting with tsunami – a very large wave that flows inland,
  77. causing death and destruction.
  78. Many islanders produce handicrafts – handmade traditional objects like jewellery,
  79. textiles and pottery.
  80. Someone who is vulnerable is weak or unprotected.
  81. The phrase food security refers to a country's ability to produce enough food to feed its population.
  82. When something is heartbreaking, it makes you feel very sad.
  83. And finally, to get back on your feet means to be OK again after having difficulties in life.