"Almost a third of all of Tuvalu’s residents have put in requests for the first batch of climate visas from Australia, as scientists fear the Pacific nation will be uninhabitable within the next 80 years."
"Nearly one-third of citizens in Pacific nation Tuvalu are seeking a landmark climate visa to live in Australia as rising seas threaten their palm-fringed shores, official figures obtained by AFP show.
Australia is offering visas to 280 Tuvalu citizens each year under a climate migration deal Canberra has billed as "the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world".
More than 3,000 Tuvaluans have already entered a ballot for the first batch of visas, according to official figures on the Australian programme, almost a full third of the nation's population."
Advertisement 
