This makes the Marshall Islands one of the nations – along with fellow Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Maldives – most at risk of disappearing under the sea.

The Marshall Islands consist of two chains of coral atolls, together with more than 1,000 islets, just north of the Equator. The atolls are coral deposits on the crater rims of submerged volcanoes ...