The climate is equatorial marine in nature. There are 110 cyclones though rainfall is cyclic and periodic droughts are a serious problem with one year having a recorded rainfall of only 280 nun. The land biodiversity is limited with only
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.
As noted in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, climate change is one of the most important drivers of biodiversity loss" and is projected to further adversely affect the role of
biodiversity as a source of goods and services. The impacts of climate change on biodiversity have been of major concern to the Convention on Biological Diversity since 2002 when, following a request from the Conference of the Parties and the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group was established to carry
Atmosphere and Climate Physical Climate Cook Islands consists of data on local knowledge on climate variability, energy in Cook Islands and Review of mainstreaming of climate change into national plans and policies in Cook Islands
One of the recommendations emerging from the COP-8 (Decision XIII/8 [6]) promoted a series of regional and/or sub-regional workshops on capacity building for NBSAPs. These will
be held with the aim to discuss national experiences in implementing NBSAPs, the integration of biodiversity concerns into relevant sectors, obstacles, and ways and means
for overcoming these obstacles. It was recommended that these workshops be held (subject to the availability of funding) prior to COP-9, to provide an opportunity to directly support
The Pacific region has benefited from a number of regional and national programmes to both assess the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and develop programmes to adapt to climate change. Such programmes are critical considering that the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1/ states that the Pacific region has already experienced temperature increases of as much as 1°C since 1910.
The combined pressures of climate change and development will not only aggravate existing challenges to the conservation of biodiversity in the Pacific, but also introduce new difficulties. There are a wide range of historical, current and planned studies that examine specific aspects of the relationship between climate change, conservation and development in the Pacific.
Scientists have advocated for local interventions, such as creating marine protected areas and implementing fishery restrictions, as ways to mitigate local stressors to limit the effects of climate change on reef-building corals
Available online.
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 30 p
Climate change is expected to cause extinctions when native plants and animals are prevented from migrating out of their hotter or drier habitats to more suitable climates. But for many species a more
Island conservation programs have been spectacularly successful over the past five decades, yet they generally do not account for impacts of climate change. Here, we argue that the full spectrum of climate change, especially Island conservation programs have been spectacularly successful over the past five decades, yet they generally do not account for impacts of climate change. Here, we argue that the full spectrum of climate change, especially sea-level rise and loss of suitable climatic conditions, should be rapidly integrated into island biodiversity research and management.
On 20 November 2006 the Biological Diversity Advisory Committee (BDAC), whose role it was to advise the then Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Heritage, held a one day workshop in Canberra on climate change and invasive species impacts on biodiversity. Eight talks were given, followed by a session of free discussion. Most attendees were experts from government departments, universities, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and cooperative research centres (CRCs).
Climate change is a major threat to global biodiversity. From the tropics to the Poles, the worlds ecosystems are all under pressure. A study published in the scientific journal Nature posited that 15 to 37% of terrestrial animal and plant species could be at risk of extinction because of human-induced impacts on climate (Thomas et al., 2004). Scattered across the four corners of the Earth, European Union overseas entities, are home to a biological diversity that is as rich as it is vulnerable.
The rational for this Policy Brief is to make clear the vital benefits of integrating
biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management by taking the Ecosystemsbased
Adaptation approach along with the Green Economy Initiative to achieve
equitable multiple win-win objectives to ensure the continued well-being of human
society in the future.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 20 p.
Climate change poses an unprecedented level of threat to life on the planet. In addition, predictions about the scale and speed of impact are continually being revised upwards, so that what was already a serious situation continues to look even more threatening. The facts are well known. Atmospheric greenhouse gases are creating warmer temperatures, ice melt, sea-level rise and an unpredictable climate, with a range of extremely serious and hard-to-predict consequences. Recent research shows an increasingly bleak picture.
Coral reef ecosystems are seriously threatened by changing conditions in the ocean. Although many factors are implicated, climate change has emerged as a dominant and rapidly growing threat.
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 10 p.
Marine protected areas (MBA) provide place-based management of marine ecosystem through various degrees and types of protective actions. Habitats such as coral reefs are especially susceptible to degradation resulting from climate change, as evidenced by mass bleaching events over the past two decades. Marine ecosystems are being altered by direct effecrs of climate change including ocean warming, ocean acidification rising sea level, changing circulation patterns, increasing severity of storms, and changing freshwater influxes.
Call Number: [EL]