Rising Health Risks: 4 Reasons Why We Must Pay Attention to Sinking Pacific Islands

By Jamie Chan 22 July, 2026

Sea level rise is a public health crisis that can spread dengue, typhoid, even snake bites. CWR's Chan explains how saltwater intrusion & flooding is already affecting health & wellbeing in Asia Pacific

SLR has made extreme coastal flooding 4x more frequent since 1900; stagnant floodwater carries sewage & pesticides & cause outbreaks in water-borne diseases
Saltwater has already infiltrated drinking wells in Vanuatu & Asia's fertile deltas are sinking posing a risk to agricultural output & food security
Climate relocation is unavoidable but has serious mental health & social impacts; new Lancet Commission will further investigate SLR health & justice issues

This month, brutal temperatures swept Europe into a lethal heatwave while abnormal heat delivered summer conditions to the Antarctic winter. This impact on ice is so dire that even children in Hong Kong are worried about fast melting glaciers and their potential to reshape our coastlines.

Here in Asia, sea level rise (SLR) pushed up storm surges brought by Super Typhoon Bavi, a mega storm supercharged by El Nino that has grown to be the size of France. Its fierce winds and rains first battered Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, then the Philippines, Taiwan and mainland China.

“What is felt on the coast, will soon be felt inland. What is felt by the East, will also be felt by the West,” goes an Indigenous Pacific Islander proverb as quoted by Samoan activist Brianna Fruean. We are seeing this loud and clear in the path of Bavi and the earlier Typhoon Maysak, which formed in the Pacific before affecting inland areas as far as Hubei in central China.

Perhaps less obvious is the same pattern for SLR and coastal flooding. The Pacific Islands are the canary in the coalmine for the rapid encroachment of SLR. At CWR, we often talk about SLR as a financial risk leading to stranded assets and financial collapse, but let’s not forget that people’s health & wellbeing gets hit first. Here are 4 ways that SLR creates a public health crisis & why the rest of Asia and the world must pay attention.

1. Extended flooding can spread water-borne diseases & overwhelm sanitation systems

In late June, Typhoon Maysak brought severe flooding to southern China. Reservoirs in Guangxi breached which amplified the flooding and caused 26 direct deaths. The floodwaters carried sewage, pesticides, and animal carcasses, reports CGTN, which have infiltrated water sources and food supplies to create a public health time bomb.

Alarmingly, 900 snakes have escaped breeding grounds and have been spotted swimming through the muddy waters, putting residents at risk of snake attacks, though officials confirm that most snakes are not venomous.

Human-driven SLR has made extreme coastal flooding 4x more frequent since 1900

New research finds that human-driven SLR has made extreme coastal flooding 4x more frequent since 1900. This is alarming as stagnant water becomes the perfect breeding ground for water-borne vectors and viruses. Higher water levels may also exceed what sewage and sanitation systems are designed to handle, causing septic tanks, pit latrines, and sewage pipes to overflow, releasing pathogens into while blocked drainage channels prolong exposure to dirty water.

Pakistan’s severe flooding in 2022 caused hundreds of thousands of people to become sick with skin infections, typhoid, malaria, and dengue fever. Floods also prevent those with pre-existing illnesses from accessing medical treatment, which has led to HIV outbreaks in Pakistan.

Asian countries may learn from Vanuatu’s health strategy to minimise disease spread from flooding. Leptospirosis outbreaks spread by infected animals’ urine are a risk after heavy rainfall. Through developing an early warning system for public health, Vanuatu has managed to contain these outbreaks, even when hit with back-to-back cyclones in 2023.

2. Medical needs are rising yet coastal healthcare infrastructure is increasingly at risk of submersion

In April, Super Typhoon Sinkala – the most powerful storm in 2026 so far – inflicted catastrophic devastation across the Northern Marianas. The only hospital in Saipan was hit with severe flooding while roads were blocked off from topped utility poles, tin roofs, trees, and vehicles. Power and water were out for weeks.

>60% of medical facilities in the Pacific Islands are within 500m of the coast

The spread of infectious diseases and injuries caused by flooding and storms make it ever more crucial to have access to healthcare, but across the Pacific Islands over 60% of medical facilities are located within 500m of the coast. This puts them in direct line of impact of violent cyclones and SLR.

Earlier this year, a Nature paper revealed that SLR has been widely underestimated due to inaccurate modelling with the greatest discrepancy in the Indo-Pacific where SLR could be 0.9-1.1m higher than previously thought.

Not only does this raise the stakes for the low-lying island nations, this will also impact densely populated Asian capitals like Jakarta, Manila, Mumbai, Bangkok, and Karachi. Are critical infrastructures like power, water, and healthcare secure against rising flood risk? It seems that it takes a disaster to hit before coastal protection becomes a priority…

3. Saltwater infiltrates drinking water & destroys crops = water & food security at risk

Residents of Vanuatu have reported that their drinking wells are turning salty. As saltwater creeps inland, it seeps into underground freshwater aquifers which supply water for drinking and irrigation. According to the Guardian, the health costs of saltwater contamination are starting to become observed in worse cardiovascular, renal, and pregnancy outcomes.

When saltwater intrusion disrupts local production of staple crops like taro and cassava, the University of Papua New Guinea warns that people then turn to imported, processed foods that worsen malnutrition and obesity, as well as erode food autonomy.

Sinking Mekong delta can affect 65% of Vietnam’s aquaculture output

In Asia, sinking deltas are threatening food security. Globally, these low-lying fertile lands built on river sediments produce 4% of the world’s food despite covering only 0.5% of the planet’s land. A Nature study from Jan 2026 finds that deltas are at severe risk of disappearing, including the Ganges, Chao Phraya, Red, Pearl, Yellow deltas which span India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. For the Mekong Delta otherwise known as Vietnam’s “rice bowl”, this could put 65% of the country’s aquaculture output and 20 million people at risk, according to Eco-Business.

With so much at stake, has anyone assessed how much of Asia’s agricultural output is vulnerable to saline intrusion? Is anyone mapping where the most susceptible aquifers and agricultural land are? And is any country prioritising this to safeguard our bread baskets? Let’s hope somebody steps up to lead this research.

4. Displacement trauma & loss of cultural ties worsens mental health

In March 2026, the Pacific governments launched the world’s first planned climate relocation framework, signaling that climate mobility, whether by choice or necessity, is an inalienable part of our reality.

“A child born today and living within 2-3m of sea-level rise will almost certainly lose their home within their lifetime if current emissions continue,” warned the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative in 2025. On average, the Pacific Islands are just 1-2m above sea level so there is no higher ground to retreat to.

For managed retreat to succeed, mental health & dignity must be central

Even as Tuvalu recreates itself in the metaverse, the loss of ancestral lands, traditions, and reorganising community ties in a new place is an incredibly painful and difficult process that leaves deep social and psychological impacts. For managed retreat to succeed, mental health and dignity must be a central tenet to any mobility strategy.

Although Hong Kong has not reached the point of considering retreat, children and youth are already fearing what’s to come as melting ice reaches their shore – see their moving artworks exhibited at the HK Arts Centre.

Treat coastal flooding & SLR as a public health crisis

The climate-health intersection is finally taking the global stage in 2026: a new Lancet Commission was launched to investigate health and justice issues surrounding SLR, and with Australia taking on the presidency at COP31, the international climate conference is expected to center Pacific nations concerns on human wellbeing.

Furthermore, after years of activism and legal action, a group of Pacific law students successfully petitioned the International Court of Justice to issue its landmark climate ruling last year, recognising that climate change impinges on human rights.

As governments start to take action around the growing risks of climate and health, innovations that address this intersection may have a market – so keep your eyes on this space!

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Author: Jamie Chan
Jamie is a Research Analyst at CWR. She contributes to CWR’s research, publications, and monthly newsletters. She brings her experience in ethnographic research on climate adaptation issues to CWR, where she hopes to bridge science, business, policy & culture to build more climate resilience systems. Jamie holds a BA in Anthropology from Yale University and was the 2024 Yale Fox Fellow at the University of Cape Town.
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