The Republic of the Marshall Islands consists of two groups of atolls and islands: Ralik in the west and Ratak to the east, within a rectangle extending 1150 km north-south and 1300 km east- west. about 3200 kilometers from Honolulu and Tokyo. Twenty-two of 29 atolls, and four of the five small raised coral islands are inhabited. The islands are typically several km long and rarely over 200 meters in width.
Pacific Island communities are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters ranging from tropical cyclones, drought, floods, storm surges and tsunamis. Each year, these events result in significant loss of life, the destruction of homes, public infrastructure and livelihoods and the reversal of hard-won economic gains. Recently, deadly tsunami and earthquake events in the Indian Ocean region have focused the attention of the world community, particularly those living in small islands and coastal regions, to the need for greater vigilance in disaster prevention and preparedness.
IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD of Tuvalu, the fourth-smallest country in the world, so much the better, because its nine square miles of diy land may soon disappear from sight like a polished stone chopped in the deep sea. And if that happens, it might be
unpleasant to consider that the basic amenities of our lifestyle-our cars and planes and power plants, our well-lighted, well-cooled and -heated homes-have brought about the
obliteration of an ancient, peaceful civilization halfway around the world.
E-copy available from "FL" field|Downloaded off the internet
Mangrove systems occur extensively on low gradient tropical shorelines, where sedimentation enables resilience during sea-level rise (SLR). Within mangroves, inundation frequencies across the intertidal slope cause zonation of different species with elevation. This tight sea-level control of the seaward margin and zones within mangroves has been demonstrated by precise EDM survey. Hence species zones in mangroves are definitive indicators of sea-level position, and pollen
The "Capacity Building to enable the Development of Adaptation Measures in Pacific Island Countries" (CBDAMPIC) project is an adaptation to climate change project focusing on improving the sustainable livelihoods of Pacific Island people by
increasing their adaptive capacity to climate-related risks. The project is implemented in four countries: Cook Islands, Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu and was executed from January 2002 till March 2005.
Available online
Call Number: VF 6683 (EL)
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Climate change2 is one of the most pressing issues for the Pacific Island countries (PICs). The impacts of climate variability and extreme events (cyclones, floods, droughts, sea
Scientific evidence of human interference with the climate first emerged in the international public arena in 1979 at the First World Climate Conference (see timelines). As public awareness of environmental issues continued to increase in the 1980s, governments grew even more concerned about climate issues. In 1988 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution
43/53, proposed by the Government of Malta, urging: "... protection of global climate for present and future generations of mankind."
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This NAPA document has 7 sections. This first section gives the background of the NAPA project and Kiribati setting. The second section deals with general environmental stress symptoms that have been noted, in particular the conditions and processes of key sectors demonstrating their" vulnerability to climate change. Section 3 sets out a Framework of Adaptation starting with simple trend analysis of climatic parameters followed by scenarios of climate change and sea level rise.
The Republic of Kiribati is a small island state with a total land area of 800 sq. km distributed unequally between 32 low lying atolls and one raised limestone atoll. The 32 atolls are
generally within any heights from less than a meter to four meters above the mean sea level. Eleven of these atolls are uninhabitable because of their small size and lack of ground water lens. The atolls spread over a total Exclusive Economic Zone of 3.5 million sq. km.
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Cooperate with other such Parties to enhance the individual and combined effectiveness of their policies and measures adopted under this Article, pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 2 (e) (i), of the Convention. To this end, these Parties shall take steps to share their experience and exchange information on such policies and measures, including developing ways of improving their comparability, transparency and effectiveness. The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to this Protocol shall, at its first session or as soon
Niue consists of a single uplifted coral atoll with a unique rugged coastline. It is situated in the Southwest Pacific Ocean within the Polynesian cultural zone. The population of Niue was 2.088 at the 1977 population census, and is a declining population due to outward migration. Niue lies on the edge of the southern tropical cyclone belt, and has two distinct seasons, a hot wet season from November to March and a cool dry season from April to November. The economy is largely dependent on overseas aid. with no realistic prospect of economic self-reliance.
The climate of Tonga is tropical. It lies within the southeast trade wind zone of the South Pacific. Climatic parameters include rainfall, temperture. wind and sunshine hours. Tonga's annual rainfall can be defined by two seasons, the wet and dry seasons. Wet season is also known as the cyclone season and it is noticeable from November to April. Dry season runs from May to October. The wettest months are particularly January. February and March that may exceed 250mm of rainfall per month. During dry season, the amount of rainfall received per month is less than 250mm.
The Working Group I contribution to the IPCC Fourth
Assessment Report describes progress in understanding of
the human and natural drivers of climate change,1 observed
climate change, climate processes and attribution, and
estimates of projected future climate change. It builds
upon past IPCC assessments and incorporates new findings
from the past six years of research. Scientific progress
since the Third Assessment Report (TAR) is based upon
large amounts of new and more comprehensive data,
Pacific Islanders traditionally have enjoyed diverse ways to achieve food security, through gardening, fishing, hunting, and selling products or labour for cash, reports JON BARNETT.
But robust local food production has significantly been eroded with urbanisation and cheap, poor quality food imports. Climate change will increase threats to food security, through
Adaptation activities in the Pacific. Lessons learned and best practices identified. Costs of extreme events to Small. Emerging risks and trends identified by climate change scientists
Islands
Kept in vertical file collection|Powerpoint presentation
Call Number: VF 6744 ,[EL]
Physical Description: 24 p. ; 29 cm
One of the major concerns for Kosrae States development now and into the future is the risk
of climate change. The Fourth Assessment Report of the International Panel on Climate
Change states that the warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from
observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of
snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level1. Resilience and sustainability needs to be
systematically built into Kosraes key economic and climate sensitive sectors in order to
Ice, snow and climate change are closely linked. The Global Outlook for Ice and Snow investigates those linkages. It also presents information on the trends in ice and snow, the outlook for this century and beyond and the consequences to ecosystems and human well-being of these changes. It covers all parts of the cryosphere (the world of ice): snow, land ice, sea ice, river and lake ice, and frozen ground. The Global Outlook for Ice and Snow was written by more than 70 scientists from around the world.
Call Number: 551.578 4 UNI [EL]
This report provides an overview of the current state of knowledge of cetacean diversity, habitat and threats in the Pacifi c Islands Region.
Climate, biodiversity, and human well-being are inextricably linked. Significant policy objectives for each
now exist in international political commitments and country actions. Although our understanding of these processes and their inter-relationships is far from complete we know enough to identify some critically important components for immediate attention and priority areas for research and policy development. New mechanisms will be needed to galvanise work in this area, especially at the inter-governmental level.
The impacts of climate change on biodiversity and the degree to which autonomous and directed adaptation will lesson these impacts are likely to be complex and hard to predict. This will make the research information we gain particularly difficult to communicate to the people who will be required to act on this information, namely ecosystem managers, resource managers, the public and policy makers
climate change and biodiversity details
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