Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who took office as Samoa's first female prime minister in late July, gave a stark assessment of the Pacific's prospects if efforts to tackle global warming continue to stall.
Mata'afa said rising seas were already swamping the region's tiny atoll states -- which include nations such as Tokelau, Tuvalu and Kiribati.
“With them, it's a real and present circumstance -- the water is gaining ground on them,” she said Monday, adding that violent cyclones were becoming more common across the South Pacific.
