21 AUGUST 2014
By the time the Government declared a state of emergency in 2013, the wells had long run dry in the drought-stricken northern reaches of the Marshall Islands, and families had started fleeing to the capital Majuro.
This idyllic paradise is set so low in the ocean that there are few freshwater reservoirs or sources of groundwater. The lack of rain since September 2012 led to a twin crisis of drinking water shortages and damaged crops.
Source: UNDP