The Pacific RISA strives to enhance Pacific Island communities’ abilities to understand, plan for, and respond to a changing climate. We do this by emphasizing the engagement of communities, governments, businesses, and scientists by translating scientific research into information and materials that are valuable for stakeholders in key sectors such as water resources, coastal and marine resources, fisheries, agriculture, tourism, public health, and disaster management. Education and outreach therefore comprise a major focus in Pacific RISA’s core mission.

Climate Matters Documoments

Pacific RISA created a series of climate-themed “Documoment” videos about how climate matters to different people and industries in the Pacific Islands. Each video clip focuses on a different aspect of how climate information matters to people of different professions around the region. For more information, see the Climate Matters Documoments page.

• On Maui, we spoke to Chris Brosius of the West Maui Mountain Watershed Partnership, and Tova Callender of the West Maui Ridge-2-Reef program, about climate change impacts in West Maui forest watersheds and reef ecosystems.
• On the Big Island, we spoke to independent cattle rancher Michelle Galimba about how drought on her Ka‘u ranch affects both her livelihood and locally-produced food.
• In Nānākuli, O‘ahu, at the PVT construction landfill, Vice President Steve Jacobs proudly showed us how PVT responded to a climate forecast of a strong La Niña event by upgrading its storm drains, thus avoiding potential catastrophe when a 100-year storm dropped over 10 inches of rain in 24 hours.
• On the famous beaches of Waikiki, O‘ahu, the president of Kyo-Ya Company, Greg Dickens, told us about the changes in the Waikiki shoreline he has observed over the last 50 years, and how potential sea-level rise effects on Waikiki beaches could be devastating for the local tourist economy.

PIRCA

As of Fall 2016, PIRCA has launched its new website at PIRCA.org.  The website provides a wealth of information and resources about climate change in Hawai‘i and the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). 

The Pacific RISA has been heavily involved in organizing and providing support to the National Climate Assessment (NCA) with focused involvement in the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA), a collaborative effort that assesses the state of climate knowledge, impacts, and adaptive capacity in three subregions: (1) the Western North Pacific, (2) the Central North Pacific, and (3) the Central South Pacific.

PIRCA activities include dialogs, workshops, and a regional forum to facilitate sharing, analyzing, and reporting on scientific consensus, knowledge gaps, sectoral needs, and adaptive capacity for addressing the changing climate. The team has brought together scientific experts and practitioners to generate integrated reports that provide a regional contribution to the National Climate Assessment (NCA). The PIRCA engages federal, state, and local government agencies, non-government organizations, businesses, and community groups to inform and prioritize their activities in the face of a changing climate. The PIRCA relies on the regional culture of communication and collaboration to support a sustained climate assessment process, as well as regional Climate Impacts Fora.

Header image: Chip Guard, WFO Guam Warning Coordination Meteorologist and Pacific RISA collaborator, presents to officials in Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia. (Source: Pacific ENSO Applications Climate Center)