'We're sinking here': climate change laps at front door of Torres Strait Islands

Rising sea levels, coastal erosion, extreme weather and destructive king tides have put the low-lying archipelago on the front line of climate change. As Australia negotiates with other countries at the Paris talks, some of its own people need practical help now, before it's too late

Mebai Warusam sits under his stilt-supported house, facing the Pacific Ocean's turquoise waters lapping 50 metres from his front gate. At 91, born and raised on the island of Saibai in the Torres Strait, he is an elder visitors and locals turn to for knowledge.

A few years ago, he says, researchers from down south travelled to Saibai. "They said, 'If water comes right through this island, what you will do?' I said, 'I will never move from this island.'" "I will jump on my boat, tie that rope on a wongai tree. I will live here; I will die here."