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2022 Our Ocean Palau Conference

Pacific RISA Project Specialist Paula Moehlenkamp recently attended the Our Ocean conference in Palau, where she represented the collaboration between Pacific RISA and the Local2030 Islands Network. Hosted by the Government of the Republic of Palau and the United States, the conference sought to draw international attention to the serious threats facing the world’s oceans and to gain commitments to concrete action around the globe to support marine conservation and climate resilience. Under the theme “Our Ocean, Our People, Our Prosperity,” and headlined by special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Palau President Surangel Whipps, Jr., the 2022 Our Ocean Conference focused on two cross-cutting issues: the ocean-climate nexus, and the importance of a healthy ocean to small island developing states and all communities where the ocean serves as a primary source of sustenance. As the first small island developing state to host the Our Ocean Conference, Palau highlighted the specific challenges that islands face due to the ocean-climate crisis. Read More

Caring for Hawaii’s Coral Reefs

Coral reefs in Hawai’i are home to a spectacular biodiversity of plant and animal species (many endemic to the Hawaiian archipelago), support a deep-rooted culture of subsistence fishing, provide coastal protection, and are central to tourism and recreational activities. 

A large, damaged antler coral, Ala Moana Harbor, O’ahu (Photo via Damien Beri, The Coral Conservancy)

Climate stressors on coral reefs include sustained high sea surface temperature (SST) leading to coral bleaching, more intense, damaging storms, sea level rise and sedimentation impacts, and the potential to alter ocean currents and increase ocean acidification. Climate stressors on coral reefs in Hawai’i are exacerbated by coastal pollution (runoff, spills, etc), fishing, impacts from tourism and vessel traffic. This combination of stressors also makes them more vulnerable to coral disease, loss of genetic diversity, and decreases their resilience to future impacts. Read More

The Pacific RISA 2021 Annual Report

 

The Pacific RISA Annual Report, June 2020 to May 2021

The Pacific Research on Island Solutions for Adaptation (Pacific RISA) program supports Pacific island and coastal communities in adapting to the impacts of climate variability and change. The newly released Pacific RISA Annual Report covers the final year of the grant cycle, titled “Supporting Integrated Decision Making Under Climatic Variability and Change in Hawai‘i and the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands,” from June 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021. Read More

The RISA Sustained Assessment Specialist Network

Sustained Assessment Specialist Brochure

Introducing a new resource on the NOAA RISA Sustained Assessment Specialist network! This 2-page, quick reference sheet provides information about sustained assessment and the current and recent specialists that serve RISA regions.

The RISA Sustained Assessment Specialist Network promotes cross-regional collaboration, leverages expertise, and promotes learning and equitable solutions within the adaptation community. The network advances a shared vision for sustained assessment. Read More

New Resource: The 2021 Pacific Islands Climate Storybook

The new Pacific Islands Climate Storybook details community experiences in addressing the impacts of a changing climate in Pacific Island countries. Originally published in 2015, the Storybook was made possible through the extraordinary efforts of numerous government agencies and non-government organizations throughout the Pacific Islands region. The 2021 update to the Storybook reflects additional case studies and experiential knowledge, as well as scientific data. With emphasis on the vital need for climate early warning, the stories highlight the use of or need for climate services to increase community resilience to a changing climate. Read More

The IUCN World Conservation Congress: Resilience is in Our Nature

From September 3-11, 2021, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) hosted the World Conservation Congress (WCC) in Marseille, France. Held every four years, the WCC is the world’s largest conservation event and environmental decision-making forum, and was previously held in 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, where the East-West Center was a sponsor. At this year’s event, Pacific RISA PIs Laura Brewington and Zena Grecni where honored to lead two sessions on the climate crisis and impacts in the Pacific Islands region. The WCC was opened with an address by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and a series of in-person and virtual panels and presentations by Hawaiʻi Governor David Ige, the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde, actor and environmentalist Harrison Ford, photographer Sebastião Salgado, and leaders from government, civil society, indigenous peoples, business, and academia.

“Biodiversity and climate are two sides of the same coin.”

~ Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank

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Protecting Native Forests Saves Water for People and Ecosystems

Almost 99% of Hawaiʻi’s drinking water comes from water stored underground in aquifers across the islands, and groundwater supplies are impacted by changes in both land cover and climate. The NSF funded ‘Ike Wai (knowledge of water) Project at the University of Hawaiʻi spans multiple scientific disciplines and connects researchers to better understand how future land use and climate change might change groundwater recharge, and how, this in turn would influence water management decisions.. Following the stakeholder-driven approach used in the Pacific RISA Maui Groundwater Project, we worked with the State Department of Forestry and Wildlife, the Koʻolau Watershed Partnership, the City and County of Honolulu, and the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Planning to come up with a set of possible futures of conservation, urban, and agricultural land in the most heavily utilized aquifer on Oahu: the Pearl Harbor aquifer. Pacific RISA co-lead Laura Brewington developed the future land cover scenario maps as inputs to the groundwater model, which was run by the US Geological Survey. The scenarios reflected both transit-oriented development (dense development around the projected corridor for the Honolulu light rail project) and sprawl-type development (a business-as-usual approach), in combination with varying degrees of agricultural intensification or reduction and native forest protections.

Stakeholder-informed future land cover scenarios for the Pearl Harbor aquifer: a) Corridor development + high forest protection; b) Corridor development + targeted forest protection; c) Corridor development + no forest protection; d) Sprawl development + high forest protection; e) Sprawl development + targeted forest protection; and f) Sprawl development + no forest protection

Sustainable yield estimates and resulting differences in replacement costs were estimated for the six land cover scenarios crossed with two water demand scenarios under a potentially drier future climate. The results showed that both climate and land cover change were important drivers of changes in groundwater recharge. The degree of watershed protection, through preventing the spread of high-water-use, invasive plant species, had a much stronger impact than urban development. Specifically, protecting all of the aquifer’s native forests increased sustainable yields by 7–11% (30–45 million liters per day) and substantially decreased treatment costs compared with no forest protection. Furthermore, the greatest benefits to recharge occurred in the upper elevations of the watershed, which impacted the Waipahu-Waiawa and Waimalu subaquifers most substantially.

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Explore the 2021 PIRCA Report for American Sāmoa

New Report: American Sāmoa Faces Health Threats, Stronger Storms, and Challenges for Coral Reefs from Climate Change

HONOLULU (June 8, 2021) – Human health risks, stronger cyclones, coral reef death, and coastal flooding are among the major challenges detailed in a new report on climate change in American Sāmoa. Threatened resources include high-value coastal infrastructure and the millions of dollars that ocean ecosystems add to American Sāmoa’s economy annually, according to the report by the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA), a consortium of several government, NGO, and research entities.

Climate Change in the American Sāmoa: Indicators and Considerations for Key Sectors is one in a series of new PIRCA reports. Authors from American Sāmoa Community College, the University of Hawaiʻi, and the East-West Center—along with more than 20 technical contributors from local government, NGOs, and research—collaboratively developed the American Sāmoa PIRCA report.

“Places like American Sāmoa are always likely to be among the very first to see environmental impacts. The ocean is a major part of most aspects of Samoan life, and fishing is our chief industry,” said Congresswoman Uifa‘atali Amata, American Sāmoa’s representative in Congress. “A thorough climate report that is specific to American Sāmoa will be an excellent lasting resource. I appreciate all the work that went into this process, as we work to safeguard our beautiful islands, especially issues like promoting reef health, preventing severe wave damage, and preserving shorelines from erosion.”

Key Messages
Climate Change in American Sāmoa lays out the changes the Territory is already experiencing, as well as what lies ahead. The key messages for decision-makers include:

  • Temperatures have risen, and hotter days and nights affect human health. Heat waves can exacerbate a range of pre-existing health issues, and hot weather poses a particular threat to children and elderly people.
  • Stronger tropical storms and cyclones are expected globally and around American Sāmoa. More intense tropical cyclones mean a greater potential for loss of life, damage, and public health issues from these storms.
  • Sea level rise threatens infrastructure, including drinking water, agriculture, housing, and transportation, as well as ecosystems and cultural sites. More frequent and intense coastal flooding and erosion are anticipated as sea level rise accelerates. Continued effects of the 2009 earthquakes magnify local sea level rise in American Sāmoa.
  • Oceans are Coral bleaching off American Samoawarming, causing coral bleaching that is already widespread and severe. Extensive coral loss is possible within the next few decades if current trends in rising ocean temperatures continue. American Sāmoa has some of the oldest and largest corals in the world, and coral reefs inject millions of dollars annually into the local economy. In addition, American Sāmoa’s fringing coral reefs provide the best natural shoreline protection for the island.
    Photo: Coral bleaching off Tāfuna, American Sāmoa. Credit: Valentine Vaeoso.

About Climate Change in American Sāmoa and the PIRCA
The collective efforts of the technical contributors, coordinating authors, and PIRCA Advisory Committee made the American Sāmoa PIRCA report possible. The report builds upon the US Fourth National Climate Assessment, offering a closer look at climate change impacts in American Sāmoa and providing information for a wide range of sectors.

The PIRCA is funded and supported by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s RISA Program (through the Pacific RISA), the East-West Center’s Research Program, the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center, and the US Global Change Research Program.

Contact American Sāmoa PIRCA authors:
Kelley Anderson Tagarino, University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program, American Sāmoa Community College, Mapusaga, +1-684-699-3353
Victoria Keener, East-West Center, Honolulu, HI, +1-808-944-7220
Zena Grecni, East-West Center, Honolulu, HI, +1-808-944-7242
Christopher Shuler, University of Hawaiʻi Water Resources Research Center, Honolulu, HI, +1-808-956-7847
Wendy Miles, US Fish and Wildlife Service and East-West Center, Honolulu, HI, +1-808-284-7636