Climate Change has brought to our islands in the Pacific new challenges. Some of our islands have lost their waterfronts – the beaches have extended far inland, with mangroves and plants that once marked the water-marks now a part of history. Others in our Pacific are experiencing the continuing levels of sea rise – some […]
Stories
Posted inStory / Solomon Islands
Women and climate change in Solomon Islands
Women in Solomon Islands are caught between their traditional social responsibilities as the increasing impact of climate change erodes heavily upon them. Ms Clementine Vuisi, from a small village called Panarui, South Choiseul, Choiseul Province, said food security has been a huge concern as constitute staple diet is now gone, replaced with introduced root crops […]
Posted inStory / Samoa
Management of meteorological data crucial for Samoa in building resilience to extreme events
The Samoa Meteorology office is undergoing training on better managing of meteorological data gathered by experts since 1890. It is these information that Meteorological Office Chief Executive Officer Mulipola Ausetalia Titimaea says will be critical to efforts by Samoa in resilience to extreme events. “We are the only country in the Pacific with more than […]
Posted inStory / Fiji
Village faces new climate-related challenge
A DECADE after building adaptation measures to ensure the rising sea level did not claim its land, villagers of Daku Village in Tailevu are now facing a new challenge. Development committee chairman Olota Rokovunisei said the village of about 400 people had continued to experience first-hand the effects of climate change. “Our challenge now is […]
Posted inStory / Samoa
Calls for studies into decreasing catches of palolo worms
Over the weekend, dozens of people spent hours at sea to catch a much sought after delicacy known as palolo worms or Samoan palolo worms. The palolo worms (Palola viridis) rise to the surface once a year in the last quarter of the moon in October and November and in the early hours of the […]
Posted inStory / Fiji
EU ready to help Pacific resilience
RESILIENCE agenda and resilience building features prominently in both the European Union humanitarian and development assistance in the country, says EU ambassador to Fiji and the Pacific Andrew Jacobs. Speaking at the Pacific Resilience Week in Suva, Mr Jacobs said the event was significant because it was set to take place a few weeks away […]
Posted inStory / Fiji
Fiji in world’s high risk group
FIJI, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu are among the top 15 highest risk countries in the world because of frequent floods, drought, tropical cyclones, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Speaking at the Global Health Emergency Workforce (GHEW) Country Preparedness workshop last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) technical officer Dr Wendy Snowdon said Pacific […]
Posted inOpinion / Micronesia
Satellite technologies and the fight against illegal fishing in Easter Island
Easter Island is best known for its mysterious Moai statues, which dominate part of the hilly coastline and stare at the horizon like ancient watchmen of the once bountiful ocean. Just beyond the reach of their gaze lies a large stretch of open water, known as the high seas, that provides a vital spawning ground […]
Posted inStory /
Monitoring changes under the sea from the sky
When Hawaii experienced an unexpected coral bleaching event in the fall of 2014, reef managers went out to see the hardest hit reefs. A response team was sent to Kaneohe Bay, Oahu to survey the effects of thermal stress. Since Hawaiian reefs had only bleached once years before, little was known about how the relatively […]
Posted inStory / Polynesia
Underwater Earth and the XL Catlin Seaview Survey
Making impactful, visual indicators of our changing climate isn’t an easy task. Climate change is a gradual process, so it’s difficult to visibly show people what’s happening. Our oceans are changing, but we don’t notice the centimeter waters have risen or the amount they’re acidifying. But coral bleaching and reef decline are capturable: There are […]