How To Prevent an Island From Disappearing

When we think about losing an island to climate change, Tuvalu tops the list:

There is a way though not to lose it.

(Not) Losing an Island

And yes, imagining Tuvalu, do picture palm trees, porous sandy soil, lagoons, the taro that they grow.

Their country, composed of three coral islands and six atolls, has a land mass less than 26 sq km. Parts periodically sink under several feet of water that residents say is in their kitchens. Because of the flooding and crops that are no longer viable, most food is imported.

As a result, already approximately one-fifth of Tuvalu’s population of 12,000 has relocated to New Zealand.

But there is a three-part plan to save the country. Talking to COP 26 and 27, they’ve been encouraging the world to pursue climate change solutions. Also, worried about disappearing, they want to be sure to secure their statehood. But then, as the third part of their plan, they’ve been ensuring their continued existence through plans for a digital nation.

The digital city concept has a practical dimension. By reproducing every grain of sand from satellite imagery, drone pictures, other photos, they can forestall the march of global warming by programming where it might go and slowing it down. Then, when all fails, they plan that all Tuvaluans that emigrated to disparate destinations will continue as neighbors in their digital country. I suspect they will even continue their cultural tradition of stopping all activity at 6:45 p.m. A time of Christian devotion, for 15 minutes, they sing hymns and beat communal drums.

You can see a narrow part of one island:

Singapore and Shanghai already have digital twins. Economically developed, they use their reproductions to figure out optimal design, transport, managing pollution, planning for climate change. Like Tuvalu, an online life lets them plan for the future.

Our Bottom Line: Land, Labor, and Capital

Called the factors of production, land, labor, and capital are the building blocks from which we create all goods and services. Since land refers to natural resources, it is tangible. Similarly, so too are the tools and buildings that compose our physical capital and perhaps people as containers of the knowledge that is our human capital.

It all gets transformed in digital cities.

My sources and more: I first learned about digital cities from the BBC’s Business Daily podcast. Then The Guardian and the BBC had more of the facts.