It was a sad day for Nadin Morales. Like her mother, boyfriend and uncle, she was packing her bags. "We're going to leave behind the homes we've known all our lives, " she said: "the relationship with the sea, where we fish, where we bathe and where the tourists come. But the sea is sinking the island little by little."¹

The family was one of 300 living on the Caribbean island of Gardi Sugdub. Just 150 yards wide and 400 yards long, it provided members of the indigenousEthnic groups who are the original or earliest-known inhabitants of an area or country: for example, Native Americans in the USA. Guna people with a living from fishing and tourism.

But rising sea levels have been a growing problem. Every year, particularly with the strong winds of November and December, flooding affects the streets and houses. Attempts to keep the water at bay with rocks and coral have been in vain.

New homes have been provided for the islanders on the mainland, a 30-minute walk from the coast. The move, says local teacher Evelio Lopez, is a great challenge: "More than 200 years of our culture is from the sea, so leaving this island means a lot of things."

He and his neighbours are not the only Panamanians facing this fate. The government estimates that 62 other communities along its Pacific and Caribbean coasts will be forced to move in the decades to come, at a cost of almost £1bn.

"The islands on average are only a half-metre above sea level, and as that level rises, sooner or later the Gunas are going to have to abandon all of the islands," says Steven Paton of the Smithsonian Institution.

It is estimated that the country will lose 2.01% of its coastal land by 2050, with the sea rising by another 27cm.² Around 38,000 people will be affected.

On a global scale, the World Bank estimates that 216 million people are in danger of being displaced.³ The damage caused by rising sea levels could cost over £4tn.⁴ The Maldives in the Indian Ocean and Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific are especially at risk.

But countries from the Netherlands to New Zealand are also having to take preventative measures. Some are experimenting with floating homes. China is creating "sponge cities" in which open areas and wetlands absorb water to prevent flooding. Venice has a barrier with 78 gates in the sea which can be raised to block high tides.   

The damage done by climate change is not just physical. As Evelio Lopez says, for people whose traditions are based on the use of local resources, having to relocate can mean the end of an age-old culture.  

Meanwhile, new ways of talking about climate change are under discussion. Some believe that a legal definition of "climate refugee" is required.

But others argue that the term is unhelpful: according to Dr Caroline Zickgraf of Liege University, migration is "always a combination of social, political, economic, environmental and demographicThe qualities (e.g. age, sex, income) of a specific group of people or population. factors". Climate change should be seen as a "threat multiplier" that makes existing problems worse.

Can we adapt to climate change?

Yes: The human race has flourished largely as a result of its ability to adapt to different environments. Scientists can be relied upon to come up with ingenious ways of combating extreme weather.

No: It is happening too fast. Sea levels have risen by approximately 10cm since 1993 and the speed is accelerating - in Panama's case it has gone from 1mm per year in the 1960s to 3.5mm.

Or... We can, but it will come at a heavy financial and cultural price. We should spend as much as we can to combat climate change now, in order to limit the bill for damage in the future.

Indigenous - Ethnic groups who are the original or earliest-known inhabitants of an area or country: for example, Native Americans in the USA.

Demographic - The qualities (e.g. age, sex, income) of a specific group of people or population.