Storm warnings: The role of anthropology in adapting to sea-level rise in southwestern Bangladesh

This chapter demonstrates amelioration and correction are intrinsically linked to people’s autonomy and sovereignty of the knowledge and governance of their vulnerability. The governance of vulnerability to climate change must necessarily be linked across international, regional, national and local levels. It deals with a brief summary of Tuvalu and the impacts of global climate change. The impacts of climate change in Tuvalu demand immediate attention and action. Those fatalistic representations may be contradicted by capabilities woven into the brightly colored fabric of daily life, buoyant traditions, and robust leadership. It then discusses the author’s research in Tuvalu and identifies three areas in which anthropology can play an important role in avoiding, ameliorating, and correcting problems precipitated by climate change. The scientific consensus expects that the effects of climate change will dramatically transform the Tuvalu islands, settled by Polynesian seafarers from elsewhere in the Western Pacific.