Rising sea levels have washed the remains of at least 26 Japanese soldiers from their World War II graves on a low-lying Pacific archipelago, according to the foreign minister of the Marshall Islands.
"There are coffins and dead people being washed away from graves. It's that serious," Tony de Brum told reporters Friday on the sidelines of U.N. climate change talks in Germany.
Putting the blame on climate change, which threatens the existence of the islands that are only 2 meters (6 feet) above sea level at their highest, de Brum said: "Even the dead are affected."