For example, in the island nation of Papua New Guinea, an increase in population growth coupled with rising sea levels is decreasing the amount of crop land making farming very difficult for the indigenous people of the region, according to the U.N.

CNN: 'Climate change' forces Eskimos to abandon village

In Momonoura, an oyster-farming village, fishermen whose families have harvested the sea for centuries realise that, tsunami or not, their community is dying out, since young men and women do not want to step into their grandfathers' rubber boots.

ECONOMIST: A look at how Japan views the sea��and itself

With a landscape covered in a sea of dense hills, the local population was never able to survive off farming alone, and by the Song dynasty (960 to 1276), most residents had turned to commerce.

BBC: Rural adventures in China��s backcountry