Climate change will have many devastating effects related to changes in weather patterns, but the greatest damage will be caused by rising sea levels — and nowhere is poised to suffer from this more than inhabited islands that will soon be underwater.

Global sea levels have risen by about 20 centimeters since 1870, and according to models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, they could rise by another meter or more by the end of the century.

"No one better understands the grave risks posed by climate change than [Small Island Developing States]," said Baron Waqa, president of the Republic of Nauvu and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), at the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit in New York City. "Climate change and sea level rise are already threatening our viability and even our existence as sovereign nations."