Rising seas threaten early end for sinking village in Philippines

Sblings Cindy (L), 14, and Danica Martinez, 16, prepare to board a boat to travel to school with their father Domingo. Danica Martinez, 16, grew up in a house that grows taller every few years. Her father raises the stilts of their bamboo hut so water from the sea doesn't reach the floor.

They live in Sitio Pariahan, a coastal village in the Philippines that was once an island, and is now without land. Sitio Pariahan, about 17 km (10.5 miles) north of Manila, is sinking about 4 cm (1.5 inches) every year, owing largely to land subsidence from the population's overuse of groundwater, according to experts.

Now rising sea levels caused by global warming could soon make this village unliveable, a problem faced by other countries in Asia, where the poorest communities are hardest hit.

A deep well is the only source of water, and residents use it to bathe, clean, cook and, sometimes, even to drink. Solar panels are installed on many rooftops for electricity, mostly to watch television that's shared between neighbours. On days that power is low, residents pass the time by gambling.

Martinez remembers that their village wasn't always like this. She recalls basketball tournaments and grand feasts that their community once held, so popular that visitors from nearby towns would flock to watch performances, and celebrate mass at the church.

The court is now fully submerged, and the church that was once filled with devotees is stained with moss.

Much of the destruction happened when Typhoon Nesat struck in 2011, bringing waves Martinez said were as big as houses. She saw how the huts were pulled into the sea, one by one, as she and her siblings held onto bamboo poles. Their school was also destroyed, and left only with walls. More than 50 families left and never returned.

Now, Martinez and her siblings take a 30-minute boat ride to school, sometimes with uniforms drenched by big waves.

A U.N. climate change summit will be held in Madrid from Dec. 2-13, and with wildfire in the United States and Australia, and severe flooding in Europe all being linked to global warming, public pressure is rising on cost-conscious national governments to find urgent solutions.

Danica sees no long-term future in what has become like a scene from "Waterworld", a 1995 film starring Kevin Costner in which post-apocalyptic tribes live on boats and rafts.

A dilapidated school sits next to a partly submerged church in the coastal village Sitio Pariahan, Bulakan, Bulacan, north of Manila, Philippines.

Domingo Martinez, 40, catches crab whilst fishing in the surrounding area of Sitio Pariahan, Bulakan, Bulacan, north of Manila, Philippines.

The Martinez family spend time together on the roof of their bamboo hut, which is risen on stilts, in the submerged coastal village Sitio Pariahan, Bulakan, Bulacan, north of Manila, Philippines.

DJ Martinez, 12, pumps water from a well, the village's only source of fresh water, in the submerged coastal village Sitio Pariahan, Bulakan, Bulacan, north of Manila, Philippines.

Domeng and Dedet Burgos, relatives of the Martinez family, untangle a fishing net in the submerged coastal village Sitio Pariahan, Bulakan, Bulacan, north of Manila, Philippines.

Bamboo huts are risen on stilts in the submerged coastal island Sitio Pariahan, Bulakan, Bulacan, north of Manila, Philippines.