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Climate Impacts and Outlook

New Hawai‘i and Pacific Islands Climate Impacts and Outlook quarterly briefing sheet

The Pacific ENSO Applications Climate (PEAC) Center and the Pacific Climate Information System (PaCIS) have just launched a new resource for decision makers and the public. “Climate Impacts and Outlook for Hawai‘i  and the U.S. Pacific Islands Region” is a two-page informational briefing sheet summarizing the major impacts of climate in the region during the past three months and providing an outlook of climate conditions in the next quarter. The two-page summary will be published every three months, coinciding with the release of the PEAC Center’s quarterly Pacific ENSO Update newsletter. The first “Climate Impacts and Outlook for Hawai‘i and the U.S. Pacific Islands Region” briefing sheet is now available on PEAC’s website at http://www.prh.noaa.gov/peac/impacts.php.

PEAC Outlook for Quarter 1, 2013
Click here to read the “Hawaii and Pacific Islands Climate Impacts and Outlook” for Quarter 1, 2013

Professionals and interested members of the public can quickly obtain information on climate impacts and significant events that occurred over the past three months at various locations across the Pacific, via a concise summary for each island group.  For example, the 1st Quarter 2013 briefing sheet reports that the islands of Hawai‘i experienced persistent drought throughout the rainy season, September through December 2012, while strong winds downed banana trees in the Federated States of Micronesia and Super Typhoon Bopha struck the Republic of Palau.

In addition to summarizing impacts, the briefing sheet also reports on various components of regional climate for the previous quarter, including, for example, the ENSO cycle, sea surface temperature, rainfall, drought, and coral bleaching. Finally, an outlook for ENSO, climate, and climate-related impacts, found on the second page, tells readers what to expect in the next three months.

For more information about seasonal forecasts and to sign up to receive the Pacific ENSO Update newsletter and the briefing sheets, please visit the PEAC Center’s website, or email peac@noaa.gov.

 

The regional fact sheet is collaboratively prepared by the following regional partners:

Pacific Climate Information System (PaCIS)

http://www.pacificcis.org/

Pacific ENSO Applications Climate (PEAC) Center

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/peac/

NOAA NESDIS National Climatic Data Center

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/

NOAA NWS Weather Forecast Office Honolulu

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/pr/hnl/

NOAA NWS Weather Forecast Office Guam

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/pr/guam/

NOAA NMFS Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center

http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/

NOAA OceanWatch – Central Pacific

http://oceanwatch.pifsc.noaa.gov/

NOAA Coral Reef Watch

http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/

USGS Pacific Islands Water Science Center

http://hi.water.usgs.gov/

University of Hawaii – Joint Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research

http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/jimar/

University of Guam – Water and Environmental Research Institute

http://www.weriguam.org/

3 Comments on “Climate Impacts and Outlook

  1. do you have an email list that you can use to send out your quarterly briefing sheets?
    If so, could you please add me?

    Also, do you share you work with folks in the Atlantic, such as Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands?
    Just wondering.

    • Hi Suzanne,

      Thank you for your question. Pacific RISA does have a mailing list, and you can sign up in the subscription box in the footer of our homepage. (It looks like you already found this.) To receive the Climate Impacts and Outlook briefing sheet each month, however, you will need to sign up for the PEAC Center’s quarter newsletters here: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/peac/update.php, or email peac@noaa.gov, because PEAC, not Pacific RISA, distributes the quarterly briefing sheet.

      Pacific RISA is part of NOAA’s Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) program, with 11 regional programs across the nation. For example, the Southeast Climate Consortium (SECC) supports communities in the Southeastern US with climate information. RISAs share information at meetings and conferences, and sometimes RISAs collaborate on research across regions. Here at Pacific RISA, we hosted a member of the SECC a few years back and exchanged tools and methods for outreach. You can find more information and a list of RISAs at http://cpo.noaa.gov/ClimatePrograms/ClimateSocietalInteractionsCSI/RISAProgram.aspx.