AP erroneously claims one of Pope's new Cardinals is from island of Tonga 'where climate change threatens very existence of archipelago.' The exact opposite is true. An entire new Tongan island emerged from the ocean last month. Tonga is on a highly active geological fault prone to volcanoes which doesn't bother residents and has nothing to do with CO2

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2/13/15, "Pope's new cardinals from far-flung places, value ministry," AP, Nicole Winfield, Vatican City

"One hails from Tonga, where climate change is threatening the very existence of the archipelago."...

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Tonga "lies on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", where continental plates collide causing frequent volcanic and seismic activity."
 
1/15/2015, "Tongan Volcano Creates New Island," discovery.com

Jan. 14, 2015

"A Tongan volcano has created a substantial new island since it began erupting last month, spewing out huge volumes of rock and dense ash that has killed nearby vegetation, officials said on Friday. The volcano, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of the South Pacific nation's capital Nuku'alofa, rumbled to life on December 20 for the first time in five years, the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry said....

The ministry said experts took a boat trip to view the eruption on Thursday and confirmed it had transformed the local landscape.

"The new island is more than one kilometer (0.6 mile) wide, two kilometers (1.2 miles) long and about 100 meters (328 feet) high," it said in a statement.

"During our observations the volcano was erupting about every five minutes to a height of about 400 meters (1,312 feet), accompanied by some large rocks... as the ash is very wet, most is being deposited close to the vent, building up the new island."...

Tonga, which is almost 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) northeast of New Zealand, lies on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", where continental plates collide causing frequent volcanic and seismic activity."...

Image caption: "A volcano that has been erupting for several weeks near Tonga has created a new island in the ocean. This photo was taken on January 14. Photo: AP"

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Tonga residents are "unimpressed" by volcanoes:

3/18/2013, "That's No Bomb -- It's an Underwater Volcano," weather.com, Sean Breslin
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"Deep under the Pacific Ocean and along the Ring of Fire sits a volcano that suddenly came to life in March 2009. The eruption captured by the images above occurred just miles off the coast of Tonga, a chain of islands north of New Zealand in the Pacific Ocean. They sit on a fault line that is extremely active, and when a 4.4-magnitude earthquake shook the islands in 2009, residents thought nothing of it.

Two days later, an underwater volcano went off, and the explosions that were captured by photographers who rushed to the scene were spectacular. The locals were unimpressed by the blast, according to an NBC News story, because it's fairly common for the volcano to erupt."...

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AP doesn't mention Tonga placed #5 in Forbes "World's Most Corrupt Countries," in 2008:

6/26/2008, "In Pictures: The World's Most Corrupt Countries," Forbes  

"No. 5 Tonga (tie) 

"This archipelago nation in the South Pacific is the only country in the area ruled by a monarchy. The government, which relies heavily on foreign aid, hopes to clean things up. It appointed its first anti-corruption commissioner this month."

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Tonga heard about the "climate kitty" where free US taxpayer dollars are handed out. Tonga was appointed "Pacific’s sole representative" to group that will "rub shoulders" with those handing out US climate cash: 

4/11/2011, "Tonga to represent Pacific islands on International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)," nuclear-news.net

"Tonga appointed to global energy agency,  Australia Network News:, 11 April 11, Lano Fonua from the Tonga Energy Road Map says the small islands of the Pacific will now have a platform to rub shoulders with decision makers. Tonga has been appointed as the Pacific’s sole representative on the International Renewable Energy Agency’s council (IRENA). A renewable energy organisation in Tonga says the Pacific will receive more global recognition concerning climate change now it has been appointed to an international energy agency…..

Australia Network News:Stories:Tonga appointed to global energy agency"

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Source: "Kitty of climate finance"

12/11/14,  "Won’t allow progress review, India tells UN climate meet," Times of India, Vishwa Mohan, Lima, Peru

"In his intervention on Green Climate Fund during the talks, (India environment minister) Javadekar also pitched for bigger kitty of climate finance from the developed world."  

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Tonga Profile
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