I regard the Nov. 21 article "Salaryman-turned-activist keeps island nation Tuvalu in the picture" — about photographer Shuichi Endo and the island of Tuvalu — as well-intentioned but inaccurate. I have read items about Tuvalu written by experts. Tuvalu is not sinking. The entire Pacific is not rising alarmingly, contrary to information put about by nonexperts like former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

What's happening is that too much water is being withdrawn from the fresh-water aquifer (partly to irrigate a pineapple plantation), and salt water is encroaching. Also to blame are construction, erosion, sand mining and paving over a quarter of the island's surface. Rainwater is thus blocked from the aquifer.

ian l. mcqueen