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
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)
Physical Description: 64 p. ; 29 cm
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.
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]
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.
As an outcome of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the 1994 Barbados Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States not only recognized common environmental challenges facing SIDS, but also highlighted the meteorological, hydrological and oceanographic issues in many of these countries. The Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA), the principal output of the Conference, identified 14 issues and/or focal areas as urgent priorities.
The Pacific islands are uniquely vulnerable to a variety of unpredictable events - natural disasters, including potential climate change impact, as well as health emergencies. The region is made up of mainly very small countries with poor socio-economic development. These and other contextual factors result in unique challenges in building systems, skills and experience necessary to maintain and promote a well functioning national society.
The Pacific islands region faces increasing environmental and socioeconomic pressures exacerbated by global climate change and climate variability.1 Adaptation to climate change and variability (CCV) is ultimately an issue of sustainable development. Even without climate change, Pacific island countries are already severely affected by climate variability and extremes, and they remain extremely vulnerable to future changes in the regional climate that could increase the risks.
The Pacific Islands region faces increasing environmental and socioeconomic pressures exacerbated by global climate change and climate variability.1 Adaptation to climate change and variability (CCV) is ultimately an issue of sustainable development. Even without climate change, Pacific island countries are already severely affected by climate variability and extremes, and they remain extremely vulnerable to future changes in the regional climate that could increase the risks.
Climate variability is the variation around the average climate, including seasonal variations as well as large-scale variations in atmospheric and ocean circulation such as the EI Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Climate change operates over decades or longer. Changes in climate occur as a result of internal variability within the climate system and external
factors (natural and anthropogenic). Although climate is always changing, over the past 10,000 years it has been both relatively stable and warm.
Call Number: [EL]
As parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) gather in Bali, Indonesia to initiate a fresh effort to develop a global strategy to address climate change, the case for basing that strategy on early, deep cuts in emissions is being aggressively touted. To reinforce that case, the argument is being made that if such a strategy is not
adopted, developing countries like China and India will be those most adversely affected.
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Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 32 p.
As our understanding of the scale of environmental challenges
deepens, so we are also forced to contemplate the inadequacy of
the current responses to these challenges. By and large, these
responses retreat from engaging the values that underpin our decisions as citizens, voters and consumers: mainstream approaches to tackling environmental threats do not question the dominance of today's individualistic and materialistic values.
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Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 42 p.
Guam, the southernmost island of the Mariana Islands, is likely to encounter a significant typhoon every seven years. During the last thirty years two typhoons have passed directly over GuamKaren (11 November 1962) and Pamela (21 May 1976). Pamela had maximum winds of 120 kt (145 estimated), minimum sea level pressure of 930 mb, a speed of movement at 7 kt, a diameter of 20 nautical miles, and 33 inches of rainfall during the typhoon passage.
Coral reef monitoring lias been an on-going activity in Samoa since 1997. In 1998. a pilot Village Level Coral Reef Monitoring Project (VLCRMP) was initiated in collaboration between The Fisheries Division, the Division of Environment & Conservation and the International Ocean Institute Pacific Islands. The pilot project provided monitoring equipment and assisted in training the trainers that, in nuns trained 46 villagers from six villages selected from around the country ( Mulipola 2001 ).
Since 2001, the villagers in Vanuaso Tikina, Gau Island, Fiji, have collaborated with the University of the South Pacific to manage their environmental resources to prepare them for difficult and challenging times ahead. This review essay seeks to publicize this island community-based experience by illustrating a range of resource management initiatives,
and some of the challenges of their implementation. The experience is instructive to the rest of Fiji and other island and coastal societies where similar initiatives can be tried or
further promoted.
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WITH UNRULY hair; a cheerful glint in his eye and a mischievous grin. Samoan-born Vili lese is passionate about conservation. Right now, he's undertaking ground-breaking research in Tuvalu's waters to help build a sustainable future for Tuvalu's community of almost 12,000 a community who rely heavily on fishing and
farming to survive.
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Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 6 Pages
This report has been prepared at the request of the Government of Nauru to provide advice and instruction for the establishment of a National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (NMHS) in this country.
A National Meteorological and Hydrological Service is to be established in Nauru to provide scientific and technical advice to the government and people of Nauru. Nauru is the only independent country or self-governing territory within the membership of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) not to have an established NMHS.
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Tuvalu is comprised of nine small islands, six of them being atoll islands (with lagoons) namely Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae. The remaining three,
Nanumanga, Niutao and Niulakita are raised limestone reef islands. None of the islands are more than three metres above sea level, with the biggest island, Vaitupu, having a land area of just over 1000 acres. The total land area is approximately twenty-six square kilometres with a sea area of 900,000 square kilometres. During the pre-independence period, 1938 - 1978,
Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have committed themselves to considering the special needs and concerns of developing countries resulting from the adverse effects of climate change in the area of insurance. The needs of small island states have been are highlighted for attention, due to their unique geographic features and exposure, and thus unique vulnerability.1
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Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 49 p.
In failing to tackle climate change with urgency, rich countries
are effectively violating the human rights of millions of the
world's poorest people. Continued excessive greenhouse-gas
emissions primarily from industrialised nations are - with
scientific certainty - creating floods, droughts, hurricanes, sea- level rise, and seasonal unpredictability. The result is failed harvests, disappearing islands, destroyed homes, water
scarcity, and deepening health crises, which are undermining