For my last contract I was working on Funafuti, the capital island of Tuvalu, and I can confirmn that the highest point above sea level is about 3 or 4m. At one point, the narrowest part of the atoll, and with only a slight sea running waves currently wash over into the lagoon so any rise in sea level will definitely be catastrophic.

The Tuvaluans are putting a considerable effort into things like waste management which is arguably a more immediate threat to them than global warming, and it is difficult to see what else they can do. Most islands have no or one or two motorised vehicles, Funafuti being the exception with a high percentage of people having motorbikes. They may not be doing everything right, but I suspect that if the US spent the same proportion of its annual budget in this way there would be little need for the Kyoto agreement.

The other thing to bear in mind when considering places like Tuvalu and Kiribati is that the effect of global warming on the latitude of the cyclone belt is potentially a greater threat than a mean sea level rise.

Unfortunately it looks as though Australia may be going to follow the US's lead on this, the politicians being led by the nose, as in the US, by the coal companies. So much for the Pacific community! Spend a couple of million on aid but spend orders of magnitude more on policies which will effectively destroy the countrys. As has already been pointed out, those most immediately affected don't vote in the US or Oz, and those who do and support things like the Kyoto agreement wouldn't vote for Bush or Howard anyway, so who cares if they are pissed off?

Pete M