The effects of sea level rise and climate change are easily distinguishable on Apolima and as the world discusses mitigation the islanders are living the life.

The people of Apolima Island, the smallest of the four inhabited islands in Samoa, say they need to be assisted in order for their community to become resilient.

A Samoa Observer visited the island on Tuesday and saw first-hand the island residents' struggles with the sea further encroaching on their land amid fears that if seawalls are not constructed sooner the families will gradually become displaced. 

Apolima Island mayor Leala Afe Solo said they have made numerous attempts over the years to garner support from the Samoa Government to assist them on several issues including overcoming the challenges that come with sea level rise.

"It's been an ongoing issue and we made several calls to the old government and even the new administration to assist us," said the mayor. "To date, none of the government representatives got back to us.

"As you've experienced when you visited our island, the (white) stones which were literally our seawall have been pushed inland by the waves, built up to the mountain of stones which can be a good thing for now.

"However, given that climate change is no joke and it keeps getting worse, we're worried about what might happen next."

Meanwhile, the Samoa Meteorological Office (M.E.T.) has issued a warning for severe high tide to be expected up until Saturday this week which will affect 11 constituencies on Upolu and Savai'i as well as the Manono and Apolima islands.

The warning issued by the M.E.T. said the ocean currents this whole week have been abnormally strong and there is a high possibility beaches and coastal areas will be affected. The effects are anticipated to be of high risk to the constituencies mentioned as well as the two islands.

When brought to the attention of the Apolima mayor, he said they would keep an eye out for the change in the high tide and prepare themselves.

However, experiencing extremely high tides and strong waves is nothing new to Apolima residents, and they have taken a few measures to keep their shores and homes safe.

"During high tide, we pull our boats closer to our front yard (where boats anchor) and due to the lack of wharf we usually don't travel when the tide is dangerous," said Leala. 

A Pacific Climate Change program report on Samoa's climate change factors explained that sea level is expected to continue to rise in Samoa and by 2030, under a high emissions scenario, this rise in sea level is projected to be in the range of 5-15 cm. 

"The sea-level rise combined with natural year-to-year changes will increase the impact of storm surges and coastal flooding," the report reads. "As there is still much to learn, particularly how large ice sheets such as Antarctica and Greenland contribute to sea level rise, scientists warn larger rises than currently predicted could be possible."