Summary

Invasive plants that modify ecosystems can harm native biodiversity and degrade important ecosystem services. These species, which are a subset of non-native species, are also likely to be influenced by climate change which could exacerbate impacts. To assess the vulnerability of native ecosystems and federally designated critical habitat in Hawaiʻi to these harmful invaders, the authors used species distribution models to project the current (2013) and future (2100) distribution of 17 particularly detrimental invasive plants across the main Hawaiian Islands. The climate change scenario used in the analysis was the 2080-2100 SRES A1B, which projects a moderately warmer and wetter future. By combining models for multiple invasive species, they projected likely hotspots of non-native species richness and diversity. They used dynamically downscaled projections from the Hawaiian Regional Climate Model, and used three different methodologies (MAXENT, Random Forest, and Gradient Boosting Model), as well as seven bioclimatic and topographic variables, to model species distributions over geographic space. They found that most of the 17 species increased in area under climate change, with higher elevations facing greater invasion risk in 2100.

Results

The area available for occupation by the 17 selected invasive plant species increased by ~11% overall, and by ~12% in federally designated critical habitat in 2100. Invasibility, a metric that includes invasive species richness and diversity, is predicted to increase in Hawaiʻi’s upper elevation areas by 2100. While the majority of invasive species increased in area under climate change, a few species decreased in suitable area at lower elevations.

Management Considerations

• Of the ~8,000 to 10,000 plant species introduced to Hawaiʻi, only about 90 are considered extremely harmful due to their ability to degrade entire ecosystems1. If resources are limited, consider prioritizing the control and prevention of these particularly harmful invaders.
• The distribution of many of the most harmful plant invaders is expected to increase in both area and elevation with climate change. Consider revisiting management goals and objectives as conditions change.
• Consider increasing monitoring efforts in upper elevation native ecosystems for invasive plant species that may be shifting upslope as the climate warms, especially in areas with large concentrations of invasive plant species at lower elevations.
• The quality of current and future projections relies on location data, which is limited for many invasive species. Consider recording both presence and absence location information for invasive species and in areas of both high and low conservation value for use in future modeling efforts.

Take Home Points

• Under increasing temperatures, both native and invasive plant species in Hawaiʻi are expected to shift to upper elevations to find temperature equivalent zones.
• Control of invasive species within and at the boundaries of upper elevation ecosystems will be critical in the coming decades to maintain ecosystem health and integrity.
• Invasive plant species may lose suitable habitat at lower elevations with climate change, though many of these low elevation areas are of marginal value for conservation.
• Given that many critical habitat areas are in high-elevation ecosystems that are vulnerable to invasive species shifts due to climate change, new designations of critical habitat should consider potential climate change impacts.

Summary

The Hawaiian Islands are a global hotspot of non-native species richness with around half of the flora being made up of introduced and naturalized plant species. Approximately half of all Hawaiian land cover is either dominated by invasive plants, or consists of a mix of native and non-native species. However, forest land cover only reflects tree species that make up the forest canopy. Because non-native trees in the understory can limit the regeneration of native trees and respond rapidly following canopy disturbance, their presence can serve as an indicator of potential future forest composition and structure.

This study used a network of 238 standardized vegetation monitoring plots established by the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program across Hawaiʻi to create the first comprehensive assessment of plant invasions in Hawaiian forests. They also assessed how invasion related to environmental and management related factors including ownership/management (e.g., public vs. private), forest type (e.g., wet vs. dry), and fencing status (fenced to exclude feral ungulates). Analyses were based on data collected beween 2010-2015 on five of the major Hawaiian Islands including Hawaiʻi, Maui, Oʻahu, Lānaʻi, and Kauaʻi. Molokaʻi and Niʻihau were not sampled. The authors also assessed the presence and cover of 40 species of non-native plants of particular concern that were determined by local experts as likely to cause economic or environmental harm. Plots were considered dominated by non-native trees if a non-native tree species represented the most canopy cover for the plot (i.e., canopy trees), regardless of the number of stems.

Results

Fifty-six percent of Hawaiʻi’s 533,184 hectares of forest land contained non-native trees, with 39% of these forests being dominated by non-native trees. Only 44% of forest remains entirely native. In all forest types, non-native trees made up a larger proportion of the understory than the overstory tree component (66% of the saplings and 63% of the seedlings were non-native). Non-native plants of particular concern due to their invasiveness were identified in 27% of the plots surveyed. Strawberry guava was the most abundant invasive tree species in Hawaiʻi and were found on 37% of the plots. The endemic ʻōhiʻa (Metrosideros polymorpha) was the second most abundant tree species in Hawaiʻi and was found on ~68% of the plots. The sapling abundance of strawberry guava was nearly twice that of the native ʻōhiʻa. Ninety-six percent of forests in the lower-elevation areas of all islands contained non-native trees, with 75% dominated by non-native trees, whereas in higher elevation forests, only 46% of forests contained non-native trees with 31% dominated by non-natives. The forest type with the highest invaded area was lowland tropical rainforest, followed by mesic forest. All forest types were significantly more impacted by invasive trees on the lower elevation islands (Oʻahu/Kauaʻi/Lānaʻi), than on the higher elevation islands (Hawaiʻi/Maui) across all three size classes (seedlings, saplings, and large trees).

Management Implications

• The high prevalence of non-native seedlings and saplings in forest understories points towards an eventual shift from native to non-native dominance without management intervention. If all Hawaiian forests are following this invasion trajectory, non-native species could eventually constitute 75% or more of the forest tree stems and basal area on all islands and across forest types and elevations.
• The dominance of non-native plants in seedbanks, combined with their ability to germinate at higher percentages than native species, makes many invasive trees well-positioned to increase rapidly following disturbances, such as after disease outbreaks (e.g., rapid ʻōhiʻa death), or extreme climatic events (e.g., storms, floods, drought, heatwaves).
• Higher elevation forests, which are relatively less impacted by large or sapling-sized non-native trees, are prime candidates for early detection and rapid response efforts, particularly those that focus on invasive plants in the understory that are effective at suppressing native tree regeneration, like Kahili ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum), Koster’s curse (Clidemia hirta), or invasive grasses.
• Most forests in Hawaiʻi are now hybrid communites composed of both native and non-native trees with a large fraction being novel forests dominated by non-native species. Restoration of these forests to a purely native condition, such as lowland wet forest, is not feasible without massive and sustained investment.
• Non-native trees appear to pose less of a threat to mesic forests on Hawaiʻi Island as compared to the same forest type on other islands. This indicates that per-unit-area costs for invasive tree removal for Hawaiʻi Island may not be as high as elsewhere.

Take Home Points

• Forests on public lands, in conservation reserves, or in fenced areas were less impacted by non-native trees and shrubs, indicating possible benefits of conservation management.
• There is a need to develop disturbance-ready restoration techniques that include rapid response for invasive seedling removal following disturbances, especially in the remaining native-dominated forests.
• Management costs for removal will likely increase over time as non-native seedlings and saplings grow and mature. Early detection and rapid response (EDRR) is the most cost-efficient approach for removal.
• With limited resources and a daunting challenge revealed by this study, managers will need to decide whether to Resist changes to forests by removing invasive trees, Accept the changes that are occurring in some places to focus efforts elsewhere, or try to Direct  ecosystem trajectories towards more desirable states by, for example, using non-invasive non-native or Polynesian introduced plants.

Summary

Wildfires in Hawaiʻi have increased in size and frequency over the last 100 years fueled largely by invasive grasses and shrubs, which cover 25% of Hawaiʻi’s land area. These fires have led to the expansion of flammable exotic grasslands, often at the loss of native forests, as many native Hawaiian trees are not fire-adapted. Most recent fires in Hawaiʻi have occurred at lower elevations, yet warming due to climate change could shift fire risk up in elevation where the majority of intact native ecosystems remain. Therefore, it is critical to understand how a warming climate affects the distribution of flammable invasive grasses and how this may impact wildfire severity and risk. The authors used vegetation surveys to compare native and non-native grass distributions along an elevational gradient in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park between 1966-1967 and 2008 to determine whether C3 and C4 grass distributions shifted upward in response to climate and fire.

Results

They found that over this 40-year period, average temperatures at Park Headquarters increased by 0.7°C (~1.3°F), with no significant change in annual rainfall. Fires that occurred along the transect were larger during the later period (1969-2000) compared to the earlier period (1924-1966). Also, the C3 to C4 transition point (where % cover is equal) was at ~3940 ft. in 1966-1967 but moved up to ~4843 ft. in elevation in 2008 (a shift upslope of ~903 ft.). Most grass species had higher elevation maxima in 2008. However, a few species declined in elevation over the same time, potentially due to a release from grazing, biotic responses, or wildfire. Finally, significantly more fire-adapted grass species moved up in elevation, and by a greater amount (~1490 ft.) compared to the non-fire-adapted species (~896 ft.). The two fire-adapted grasses with the largest increases in elevation were Melinis minutiflora, molasses grass (introduced in 1913), and Melinis repens, Natal red top (introduced in 1895) with upslope shifts of 3773 ft. and 3921 ft., respectively.

Management Implications

• Grasses with the C4 photosynthetic pathway are better adapted to warmer environments compared to C3 plants, which dominate under cooler conditions. As such, their distributional patterns are significantly correlated with temperature, and warming may result in increased abundance, density, or cover of C4 grasses.
• Consider strengthening biosecurity protocols to prevent additional non-native, fire-adapted C4 plants from establishing as they may further increase risk of wildfire.
• Consider increased monitoring efforts for higher-elevation areas to detect invasive grasses that may be moving upslope with warming.
• Consider increasing fire pre-suppression and planning efforts for higher elevation areas that may see an increase in wildfire size and frequency due to warming and fire-adapted grasses moving upslope.

Take Home Points

• 100% of the fire-adapted grasses in the study shifted up in elevation at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park over the last 40 years. These shifts are consistent with warming conditions (0.7°C, ~1.3°F increase in the summer, and 0.7-0.9°C (1.3-1.6°F) increase in the winter between survey periods).
• The largest increases in maximum elevation change over 40 years were non-native and fire- adapted C4 grasses including 2 species with the largest increases, Melinis minutiflora, molasses grass, and Melinis repens, Natal red top, which moved 3773 ft. and 3921 ft. up in elevation respectively.
• Increased fire frequency is linked to upward range expansion of fire-adapted grasses (i.e., grasses that promote and/or tolerate fire).

Adapted from the East-West Center Press Release 

Among the findings of the Fifth US National Climate Assessment, released by the White House, are that climate change in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Islands worsens inequities and threatens unique island ecosystems, along with cultural resources, human health, livelihoods, the built environment, and access to clean water and healthy food. The assessment concludes that adaptation strategies incorporating local and Indigenous knowledge can improve the resilience of Pacific Island communities, and that efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit climate change impacts are now underway in every US region, including the Pacific Islands.

The report’s chapter on Hawaiʻi and US-Affiliated Pacific Islands was written by 16 authors, including Pacific RISA’s Abby Frazier, Victoria Keener, Zena Grecni, Kirsten Oleson, and Chris Shuler. The chapter has 41 technical contributors and is backed by nearly 500 citations from published literature.

“Climate change continues to threaten things we care about,” said Frazier, now an assistant professor at Clark University and the Hawai‘i-Pacific chapter’s lead author. “As the devastating hurricane-fueled wildfires on Maui and Typhoon Mawar in Guam made clear, when communities are already hurting from stressors like COVID-19, extreme weather can multiply harms. The sooner we scale up global action to curb threats from climate change, the better. Fortunately, cutting emissions or preparing for new extremes also creates immediate local benefits—improved health, a stronger economy, and more resilient communities.”

The chapter’s key takeaways for the region include:

• Climate change impairs access to healthy food and water. Increasing temperatures, altered rainfall, flooding, pollution, and fisheries decline will further affect food and water availability.
• Climate change undermines human health. Climate shocks and stressors compromise healthcare and worsen long-standing social and economic inequities that contribute to illness, but community strengths and adaptation measures can boost resilience.
• Rising sea levels harm infrastructure and islands’ economies. Sea level rise intensifies loss of territory and disrupts livelihoods, but governments and communities are innovating through renewable energy, green infrastructure, and sustainable economic growth.
• Responses help to safeguard tropical ecosystems and biodiversity. Increased fire risk, severe droughts, and ocean changes have broad negative impacts on native plants and wildlife, and ocean ecosystems. Effective adaptation strategies include ecosystem protection and restoration, invasive species measures, and fire prevention.
• Indigenous Peoples and their knowledge systems are central to the resilience of island communities amidst the changing climate.

New since the Fourth National Climate Assessment, published in 2018, is the chapter’s inclusion of a key message on human health and its emphasis on food security, integration of Indigenous knowledge, and recognition of data inequities for the Pacific Islands and US Caribbean.

About the Fifth National Climate Assessment

Mandated in the Global Change Research Act of 1990, the National Climate Assessment provides authoritative scientific information about climate change risks, impacts, and responses in the US. The assessment reflects the scientific consensus and is widely used for decision-making but does not include policy recommendations nor advocate for any specific policy.

The Fifth National Climate Assessment includes 32 chapters on physical science, national-level sectors (such as water, energy, agriculture, ecosystems, transportation, health, infrastructure, etc.), regional impacts in the US, and responses. The assessment was written by a diverse team of more than 500 authors and more than 250 technical contributors from every state. The report has undergone multiple rounds of review, including three opportunities for public comment, extensive agency review, and an external review by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The Hawai‘i and US-Affiliated Pacific Islands chapter has 16 authors and 41 technical contributors and is backed by nearly 500 citations from published literature.

This year, we featured the successful Pacific Ecological Security Conference, which Pacific RISA led last October in the Republic of Palau. Outcomes from the conference, which included Strategic Action Plans that highlight how the failure to adequately address invasive species in Pacific Island ecosystems weakens the resilience of communities and ecosystems to cope with the impacts of climate change, are already being used to drive legislative and policy outcomes, and are being referenced in regional and international calls for action and funding around invasive species.

“The Pacific is at the frontline of the climate crisis, and invasive species only further undermine the resilience of our ecosystems. Now more than ever, addressing invasive species should be at the forefront of our priorities and this meeting was a positive step forward to jointly ensure there is a strong regional coordinated approach to these critical threats.” ~ Gibson Susumu, Programme Lead for Sustainable Agriculture, The Pacific Community

The report covers some of Pacific RISA’s new research projects, including PI Dr. Kirsten Oleson’s ecosystem-based adaptation work on Kaua‘i that is forging connections with local community groups and the county Planning Department. Ongoing research related to climate early warning systems, peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, and hydrologic modeling for compound climate events is also included. The report concludes with an assessment of the team’s adaptation and policy impacts, and our sustained climate assessments work that has most recently produced the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment report for the Federated States of Micronesia.

Learn more about Pacific RISA’s latest achievements and check out our report today!

Featured image: The Pacific RISA visited Ngkeklau in 2022 to look for remnants of the Beng, a traditional Palauan fishing weir.

On Kauaʻi, the team met first with Kauaʻi County Planning Director Kaʻāina Hull, Long Range Planning Director Marie Williams, and others in the department to introduce them to the natural capital project. Kauaʻi County is using EBA as part of the county adaptation strategy, and shared current and upcoming projects (both NGO and private) using EBA, and their visioning for using EBA within the county adaptation plan. Later, the team attended a public workshop held by the County to engage residents on adaptation strategies such as managed retreat transfer of development rights, and nature-based solutions.

At Alakoko fishpond, which was built around 600 years ago and is one of the earliest examples of aquaculture in Hawaiʻi, Oleson’s team participated in a community work day, pulling mangroves from the wall of a mudfish pond along the Hulēia River (see photo below). They talked story with Malama Hulēia, caretakers of the fishpond, to discuss future collaboration on mental models for monitoring and evaluation plans.

This and future scoping trips will give the team an opportunity to talk to decision makers and stakeholders about what they are doing and why, what they hope the impacts/outcomes of their projects are, and how Pacific RISA can work with them to look at whether those impacts are happening. By coproducing climate knowledge and products with Kaua‘i County Planners, the Pacific RISA is improving partners’ understanding of science and knowledge related to hydrology, climate, and adaptation options.

*All Photos courtesy of Kirsten Oleson

Two of Hawaiʻi’s critically endangered birds, the ʻAkikiki and the Kiwikiu, are at risk of extinction within the next four years due to the twin threats of climate change and avian malaria carried by an invasive species. Credit: Birds Not Mosquitos

What does this have to do with climate change, you might ask? The invasive southern house mosquito, introduced to Hawaiʻi hundreds of years ago, cannot reproduce in cooler temperatures like the upper elevation forests of the Hawaiian islands. But as the climate has warmed in recent decades, they have been able to persist at higher and higher locations, which puts the native forest birds at risk of extinction from avian malaria that is carried by these mosquitos. Scientists estimate that without drastic action, some of these birds will go extinct within a few years.

Before making this momentous decision, the Board heard over three hours of testimony from citizens, scientists, school children, and natural resource managers–the overwhelming majority of which was in support of the mosquito suppression program. Often emotional, many offered testimony in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi with stories of their relationships to the native manu (forest birds). The Pacific RISA and members of the Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change management network testified that given the dire projections for continued temperature increases in the islands, the only way to protect the birds from avian malaria is to eliminate the vector (mosquito) that carries it.

Learn more about the research behind the mosquito suppression program, or take an opportunity to explore information about these endangered birds and the public outreach materials for the program. The full hearing before the Board can be viewed here – testimony begins at approximately minute 23.

I Ola Nā Manu Nahele  –  So The Forest Birds Thrive.

Featured image: Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project

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.

One of the most visible impacts of climate change on Hawai’i’s coral reefs has been coral bleaching. The most recent widespread coral bleaching event in Hawai’i occurred during the 2019 El Niño, a year of record heat for Hawai’i and during the arrival of a massive ocean heatwave called “the Blob.” As climate change continues, scientists project that these heatwave events and warmer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) may result in more frequent and more intense El Niño events. Reducing man-made impacts on coral reefs before, during, and after these events gives them a better chance at recovering from climate-induced stressors like coral bleaching. Coral restoration activities can include introducing regulations or promoting education to reduce pressures from recreational and commercial vessels, eliminating point source pollution and minimizing runoff, hands-on coral restoration and research, and keeping our beaches and oceans clean.

Pacific RISA Project Assistant Krista Jaspers recently participated in a reef cleanup with Captain Max Boat Tours, a snorkel tour company out of Kewalo Basin Harbor in Honolulu. The boat took volunteer freedivers to Turtle Canyons, named for the Hawaiian green sea turtles often found feeding and resting on the finger reefs below the surface. Directly offshore in Waikiki, this dive site sees dozens of tour boats and hundreds of tourists everyday – items collected in the clean up included plastic drink cups, snorkel masks, clothing items that were smothering entire coral heads, fishing gear, and even a fake flower lei (see featured image). Some of these items are blown off or fall from tour boats, and many more come from the thousands of tourists that pack the beaches everyday. Other popular dive sites are littered with discarded fishing gear that pose entanglement hazards for marine mammals like the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and the Hawaiian green and hawksbill turtles.

What can you do? Although Pacific RISA does not currently offer volunteer opportunities, there are many local non-profit organizations in Hawai’i that do!

Beach/Underwater Clean-ups:
Sustainable Coastlines: https://www.sustainablecoastlineshawaii.org/
Surfrider O’ahu: https://hawaii.surfrider.org/
808 Clean-ups (native plant restoration and clean-ups):https://808cleanups.org/
Ocean Defenders Alliance: https://www.oceandefenders.org/what-we-do/hawaii.html

Coral Restoration:
The Coral Conservancy: http://thecoralconservancy.org/
Kuleana Coral: https://www.kuleanacoral.com/
Malama Maunalua: https://www.malamamaunalua.org/

Other:
Paepae o He’eia: https://paepaeoheeia.org/volunteer/
Hawai’i Wildlife Fund: https://www.wildhawaii.org/get-involved/volunteer/
HMAR: https://h-mar.org/get-involved/

Learn more about the world’s coral reefs and get real-time analysis of climatic conditions:

NOAA Coral Reef Watch: Utilizes remote sensing, modeled and in situ data to observe, predict, and report to its users on the coral reef environment worldwide. CRW provides the only global early-warning system of coral reef ecosystem physical environmental changes.
Allen Coral Atlas: Worldwide coral reef atlas to assist stakeholders ranging from local communities to regional and national governments to reach their coral reef conservation goals.

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

~ Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank

Despite being postponed from 2020 to 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Marseille still hosted an impressive 4,000 global participants and hundreds of sessions, forums, and events centered around the Congress themes of climate change, freshwater, landscapes, governance, oceans, and more. The Pacific RISA team, represented in person by co-lead investigator Laura Brewington, and virtually by PI Zena Grecni, joined a large Delegation from Hawaiʻi that was led by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance Foundation, the KUA movement, and the University of Hawaiʻi Environmental Law Program’s Our Drowning Voices team. The Hawaiʻi State Department of Land and Natural Resources Chair, Suzanne Case, served as head of the Delegation, and dozens of events and presentations were held at the Hawaiʻi-Oceania Pavilion during the first six days of the Forum.

Dr. Brewington was involved in three sessions, which featured updates and achievements toward the Honolulu Challenge that were made by Pacific partners at the 2016 Congress, the synergistic effects of climate change and invasive species and the new Pacific RISCC management network, and partnerships for Pacific Island resilience to climate change. During the session on partnerships, Hawaiʻi Green Growth shared a video highlighting their leading role in Hawaiʻi’s Aloha+ Challenge and the UN Local2030 Islands Network. This was followed by a virtual panel discussion, hosted by PI Grecni, with participants from Guam, American Sāmoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands as they discussed climate research innovations and science-based adaptation initiatives in their islands. In particular, the session spotlighted leadership in building resilience, and the role of governments, practitioners, and researchers in developing the recent series of PIRCA reports for Pacific Islands.

“I don’t think that anyone at this conference is unaware of the impacts of climate change on Pacific peoples, communities, ecosystems, and islands”

~ Laura Brewington, Co-Lead of the Pacific RISA program

During the session on climate change and invasive species, Brewington and collaborators from the Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (RISCC) management network shared voices from around the region, describing the challenges and opportunities for research on these synergistic threats. The US Fish and Wildlife Service offered an introduction to disease that threatens the very survival of Hawaiʻi’s native forest birds, as temperatures rise and invasive mosquitoes reach higher grounds. Focusing in on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PICASC) shared a manager’s perspective from the Puʻuwaʻaʻwaʻa experimental forest unit, where the challenges of managing under drought and wildfire are magnified by pressure from ungulates and other disturbances. From Guam to American Sāmoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Pacific RISCC partners emphasized that dealing with the dual impacts of climate change and invasive species in islands is not a “one size fits all” approach, and requires greater collaboration and research to protect Pacific Island natural heritage into the future.

The Congress closed with call for a post-pandemic recovery based on nature, and the IUCN Members Assembly voted on numerous motions to propel countries and the international community toward urgent action on priority themes. Motion 003, to establish a seventh IUCN Commission focusing on the global climate emergency, passed with overwhelming support, thanks to the week’s concerted efforts by Hawaiʻi-Oceania Delegation members and supporters of Our Drowning Voices. Motion 003 will now become a component of IUCN’s general policy and influence the adoption of international environmental instruments, standards, agreements, and conservation best practices.

Watch

The Pacific RISA and partners share a panel on building resilience in Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

Learn about the Aloha+ Challenge and how to get involved with Hawaiʻi Green Growth and the UN Local2030 Islands Network

The US Fish and Wildlife Service shares the agency’s mission and describe the twin threats of climate change and invasive species facing native Hawaiian forest birds

The Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center and the Hawaiʻi Division of Forestry and Wildlife discuss the challenges facing Hawaiʻi’s rangeland managers under changing drought and wildfire conditions

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Division of Fish and Wildlife shares how accelerated habitat loss, combined with the introduction of invasive species, is threatening endemic birds and other native plants and animals found only on these small islands of Micronesia

The American Sāmoa Visitors Bureau describes how climate change is bringing heavy rains, erosion, and damage, from the island’s coral reefs to farmland and mountaintops, but policies to reduce human impacts in those areas are only as strong as the and agencies who people enforce them

The Guam Department of Agriculture shares how the small island of Guam in Micronesia is deeply connected to the Asia-Pacific region through international trade and shipping, while being buffeted by the impacts of a changing climate

Contact: Ja-Rei Wang, jwang@ucsusa.org, 202-331-6943

Nearly Seven in Ten Hawai’i Residents Think Fossil Fuel Companies Should Pay For Global Warming Damages, According to New Poll

Hawai’i Support for Fossil Fuel Company Climate Change Responsibility Ranked Highest Among U.S. States

WASHINGTON (June 19, 2019)— Ahead of next week’s U.S. mayors’ climate change summit in Honolulu, a new survey found that nearly seven in ten adults in Hawai’i think fossil fuel companies should pay for some portion of global warming damages. The nationally representative survey conducted by Yale University’s Program on Climate Change Communications (YPCCC) and supported by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) asked Americans across the country their opinions about responsibility for global warming damages. YPCCC polled 5,131 adults in five waves from November 2018 to January 2019 and used a geographic and statistical model developed by its team of scientists to downscale public opinion results to the state, congressional district and county levels, which are searchable through this interactive map.

“These poll results show strikingly widespread public support for the principle of ‘polluter pays’—that fossil fuel companies should be held responsible to pay for the climate mess they have created,” said Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy and chief climate scientist at UCS. “For decades, fossil fuel companies knowingly misled the public about the climate risks of their products.” The poll found that two-thirds of people across the U.S. distrust fossil fuel companies. Frumhoff continued: “Communities across the nation now confront growing extreme weather and rising seas fueled by climate change—harms that could have been largely avoided had companies acted responsibly.”

The poll found:

• Nearly seven in 10 Hawai’i residents (68 percent) think fossil fuel companies have either “a great deal” or “a moderate” amount of responsibility for the damages caused by global warming.
• Roughly the same proportion (69 percent) support making fossil fuel companies pay for a portion of the damages to local communities caused by carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels.
• Support for fossil fuel companies paying climate damages is high among residents of all four counties in the state.
• More than six in 10 Hawai’i adults (63 percent) support local officials filing a lawsuit to make companies pay a portion of damages in an area.
• Three-quarters of Hawai’i adults distrust fossil fuel companies.

“In the past month, Hawai’i has seen more than a dozen record-setting high temperature days,” said Dr. Victoria Keener, research fellow at the East-West Center. “We see rainfall patterns changing, coral reefs bleaching and dying, and sea levels rising. We have more than $19 billion at stake—just in the value of land and structures in Hawai’i expected to flood by 2100, and that doesn’t include the social costs. As lead author of the Hawai’i and Pacific Islands chapter of the 4th US-National Climate Assessment, I know more damaging climate impacts are in store for the state and region. Cities and states must dramatically increase our resiliency efforts, which raises a question: how are Hawaii’s residents and businesses going to bear these costs?”

Since 2017 a growing number of municipalities across the country have sued major fossil fuel companies for knowingly contributing to property damage, public health impacts and climate adaptation costs. The state of Rhode Island, New York City, Baltimore, eight coastal California cities and counties, three Colorado cities and counties, and one Washington county have filed lawsuits to help their residents better adapt to and mitigate climate change impacts and ensure taxpayers alone don’t foot the bill.

“The survey echoes the deep concerns I’ve heard from my colleagues here at the university and all over the islands,” said Denise Antolini, associate dean at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai’i at Manoa. “Kamaʻāina know from their own personal experience that we are experiencing dramatic reductions in cooling tradewinds, mangos flowering early, and loss of precious sandy beaches. Government and legal scholars must engage in serious dialogue to find realistic options to pay for billions on adaptation costs, including the proposal for fossil fuel companies to pay their fair share of the impacts of excessive carbon emissions. This survey is a kāhea—a call to action—and we better pay attention, now.”

For more on poll results for other states, including those with surprisingly high public support for the “polluter pays” concept, see Peter Frumhoff’s blog.

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The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet’s most pressing problems. Joining with people across the country, we combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.