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16 ClimateMigrationandCulturalPreservation… 389 shall Islands—asa locationofconflict, recipientof foodaid, siteofnuclear testing, andbase for theU.S.military (Ahlgrenet al. 2014). 16.4 Conclusions SeveredamagetotheMarshallIslandswouldresultinanirreversiblelossofculturally and personally significant locations and activities. The geography of theMarshall Islands is so uncommon, that the possibility for relocating populations to similar landscapes, which would limit the cultural loss, seems almost impossible.While many geographically tied cultural practices face irreversible loss, the sizable and established population base in theUnited-States provides an opportunity for some culturalpreservationoutsideof theRMI.Marshallese residents in theU.S.cancon- tinue to speakMarshallese, eatMarshallese foods, and spend timewith theMar- shallese communities when living in a city with aMarshallese population.With many established family and friendship ties to people living in theUnited States, thecultural transition involvedinmovingcouldoccurmoresmoothly.Manycurrent Marshallese residents in theU.S. indicate havingmoved to join family or staying with familywhen first arriving in theU.S. The possibility of this form of reloca- tionona larger scale,however, requires thecontinued termsof theContractofFree Association,whichhasallowedfor freemovementbetween the twocountries since the 1980s.Additionally, shouldmigration become permanent and irreversible, the politicalcircumstancesofMarshalleseresidentsintheU.S.wouldneedengagement, as theycurrently lackguaranteedaccess tocertain federal social programsafforded toU.S. citizens, includingMedicaid, aswell as representation ingovernment. References Ahlgren I,YamadaS,WongA(2014)Risingoceans, climate change, food aid, andhuman rights in theMarshall Islands.HealthHumanRights J16(1):69–80 AsianDevelopmentBank (2013)Theeconomicsof climatechange in thePacific.AsianDevelop- mentBank,Manila Barnett J,AdgerWN(2003)Climatedangersandatoll countries.ClimChange61(3):321–337 BarnettJ(2011)DangerousclimatechangeinthePacificIslands:foodproductionandfoodsecurity. RegEnvironChange11(1):229–237 Brown RPC, Connell J (2004) The migration of doctors and nurses from South Pacific Island Nations.SocSciMed58(11):2193–2210 EconomicPolicy, Planning, andStatisticsOffice (2011)TheRMI2011 census of population and housingsummaryandhighlightsonly.Majuro,Marshall Islands HandmerJ,NalauJ(2018)UnderstandinglossanddamageinPacificSmallIslanddevelopingstates. In:MechlerR,BouwerL,SchinkoT,Surminski S,Linnerooth-Bayer J (eds)Loss anddamage fromclimatechange.Concepts,methodsandpolicyoptions.Springer,Cham,pp365–381