An aerial photograph of Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands shows its low-lying islands and coral reefs.

(Thomas Reiss/Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center/USGS)

At a Glance

The Marshall Islands already faces regular flooding.Sea level rise could make the islands uninhabitable by 2050.The nation now plans to elevate islands above the expected rise.

The Marshall Islands, a string of atolls in the central Pacific Ocean, has an ambitious plan to fight rising sea levels: Raise the islands.

"Raising our islands is a daunting task but ," President Hilda Heine told the Marshall Islands Journal. "We need the political will, and especially traditional leaders' commitment, to see this through. That is why a national dialogue is planned to bring all the parties together."

The Marshall Islands consists of 1,156 islands across 29 atolls. The average elevation is 6 feet above sea level.

It and three other atoll nations, Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Maldives, are at the , a report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said.

(LISTEN: Can Whales’ Secret Lives Unlock the Future of the Sea?)

The Marshall Islands' 53,000 people are already facing the effects of rising sea levels, and according to another study published last April in Science Advances.

However, annual flooding by waves could contaminate the country's drinking water with sea water, making it undrinkable by 2030, the study said.

A resident of Majuro in the Marshall Islands is surrounded by the on-rushing high tide energized by a storm surge that damaged a number of homes across the island on March 3, 2014. It was the third inundation of the Marshall's capital atoll in 12 months.

(Karl Fellenius/AFP/Getty Images)

"In recent decades atoll nations have experienced increasing frequency of inundation events, severe droughts, coral bleaching events, and other notable impacts of climate change," said a "Policy Note" on the "Climate Crisis" issued by the Marshall Islands Office of the Chief Secretary recently. "Looking forward, there is very good reason to believe that conditions and prospects for survival will only worsen."

Ben Graham, the Chief Secretary, said physically raising the islands is the only way to save the nation from extinction.

One idea is to dredge a shallow lagoon in the country's capital city of Majuro and use the reclaimed land to elevate the island.

University of Hawaii climate scientist Chip Fletcher discussed the idea at, the National Geographic reported.

“Dredging and reclaiming land, there’s nothing new about that. There’s not some magic technology. It’s just really expensive,” Fletcher said. “The other element is that it’s environmentally damaging.”

But, Fletcher added, “I would rather destroy some reef than see an entire culture go extinct.”

(MORE: Rising Seas Will Render Many Pacific Islands Uninhabitable by Mid-Century, Study Says)

In the interview with the Marshall Islands Journal, President Heine said, "Whatever approach is selected, it will involve selecting islands to raise, add to, or build upon. All Marshallese stakeholders, but especially traditional landowners, need to be at the forefront of this discussion if we are ever going to move the conversation forward. We have many scientists and others interested in helping the Marshall Islands. We must come together as a nation as this is about our survival as a nation, as a people and as a culture."

The Marshall Islands, which were once used by the United States for nuclear tests, has been at the forefront of sounding the alarm over climate change.

Wave-driven flooding washes over a road on Roi-Namur atoll in the Marshall Islands

(Peter Swarzenski/USGS)

It was instrumental in drafting the Paris Agreement, and when President Donald Trump announced the United States was withdrawing from the landmark accord.

"The Marshall Islands will continue to champion mitigation and decarbonization efforts globally and locally, but it both on the global stage and here at home," Graham, the chief secretary, told Radio New Zealand.

The country plans to work more closely with the other atoll nations to make their case for help before global groups and major donors.

"We are the only nations in the world who now face real prospects of being completely wiped off the map," Graham said, "so we need accelerated support for adaptation from our major partners."