People living in Bikini Island, an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, had been moved to another island in the Marshall Island chain known as Kili Island. 

Bikini Atoll is one of 29 atolls and five islands that comprise the Marshall Islands. The atolls of the Marshalls are located in a lonely part of the world north of the equator in the Pacific Ocean. This area is often referred to as Micronesia.

Now, these refugees face another threat - rising sea waters. Recently, about 1,000 Bikini islanders have applied to relocate to the United States as ocean levels threaten their adopted homes.

We look at the history of these islanders and their future.

Displaced From Their Own Lands

During the height of the Cold War, the US Government planned to use Bikini Atoll as a test site for atomic weapons.

In 1946 several hundred Bikinians were moved from their homes with the promise that they would be taken care of by the US government. In the following years, some 23 nuclear tests were conducted, including Bravo --  the largest hydrogen bomb detonated by the US. The tests made the atoll permanently unsafe for human habitation.

After several relocations, severe hardships, and food shortages, the Bikinians were eventually settled on the island of Kili in 1948. Under an agreement, a resettlement trust fund was established by the US to help the Bikinians pay for the construction of homes within the Marshall Islands.

Tidal Flooding

But adversity continues to chase them. Bikinians are now at the mercy of king tides that are threatening to swallow their adopted homes. Besides flooding homes, salt is creeping up from beneath Kili, threatening agriculture and water supplies. In the early part of this year, the island's runway was entirely flooded, cutting off residents.

Now the people of Bikini are requesting that the trust funds created by the US Government be used to relocate their people to the US and not just the Marshall Islands. Kili is becoming uninhabitable because of climate change. The US Department of Interior is supporting the islanders and proposing legislation in Congress to change the terms of the resettlement trust. 

As world countries meet in Paris in early December for a global climate summit, sea-level rise and the fate of islands like Bikini Island will be on the agenda.

Courtesy: bikiniatoll.com, history.com