Something I'm missing here:
Tuvalu is an island with a population of around 11,000 people and its highest point is just 4.5m (15 ft) above sea level. Since 1993, sea levels have risen about 0.5cm (0.2 inches) per year, according to a 2011 Australian government report.
So they're talking about something that might happen in 900 years, if current trends hold (and we all know that all trends noted by the best scientists of 13th century totally proved to be accurate). And yet the article treats it as a problem that needs to be discussed right now, complete with a picture of an official standing knee-deep in water, and descriptions of how old people prepare to "go down with the land" (they must not be that old if they plan to live for several hundreds of years longer...)
This looks like cheap theatrics using real events to present scenarios which aren't relevant and probably won't be anytime worth talking about. I mean, there's surely coastal erosion problem but not from the 0.5cm per year thing.