The South Pacific pounds the serpentine coastline of Funafuti Atoll, 19 February 2004, home to nearly half of Tuvalu’s entire population of 11,500, as king tides threaten to inundate the tiny island nation. Tuvaluans fear that global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, coupled with king tides and cyclones, will render their Polynesian archipelago uninhabitable. AFP PHOTO/Torsten BLACKWOOD (Photo credit should read TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP/Getty Images)