| Islands Region |
 |
 |
|
Climate change presents the Pacific and Caribbean islands with unique challenges. The U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands are home to approximately 1.7 million people in the Hawaiian Islands; Palau; the Samoan Islands of Tutuila, Manua, Rose, and Swains; and islands in the Micronesian archipelago, the Carolines, Marshalls, and Marianas.530 These include volcanic, continental, and limestone islands, atolls, and islands of mixed geologies.530 The degree to which climate change and variability will affect each of the roughly 30,000 islands in the Pacific depends upon a variety of factors, including the island’s geology, area, height above sea level, extent of reef formation, and the size of its freshwater aquifer.531 In addition to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, there are 40 island nations in the Caribbean that are home to approximately 38 million people.532 Population growth, often concentrated in coastal areas, escalates the vulnerability of both Pacific and Caribbean island communities to the effects of climate change, as do weakened traditional support systems. Tourism and fisheries, both of which are climate-sensitive, play a large economic role in these communities.530 Small islands are considered among the most vulnerable to climate change because extreme events have major impacts on them. Changes in weather patterns and the frequency and intensity of extreme events, sea-level rise, coastal erosion, coral reef bleaching, ocean acidification, and contamination of freshwater resources by salt water are among the impacts small islands face.533 1900 to 2100 relative to 1960-1979 average 
Islands have experienced rising temperatures and sea levels in recent decades. Projections for the rest of this century suggest:
The number of heavy rain events is very likely to increase.90 Hurricane (typhoon) wind speeds and rainfall rates are likely to increase with continued warming.68 Islands and other low-lying coastal areas will be at increased risk from coastal inundation due to sea-level rise and storm surge, with major implications for coastal communities, infrastructure, natural habitats, and resources.
The availability of freshwater is likely to be reduced, with significant implications for island communities, economies, and resources.Most island communities in the Pacific and the Caribbean have limited sources of the freshwater needed to support unique ecosystems and biodiversity, public health, agriculture, and tourism. Conventional freshwater resources include rainwater collection, groundwater, and surface water.534 For drinking and bathing, smaller Pacific islands primarily rely on individual rainwater catchment systems, while groundwater from the freshwater lens is used for irrigation. The size of freshwater lenses in atolls is influenced by factors such as rates of recharge (through precipitation), rates of use, and extent of tidal inundation.531 Since rainfall triggers the formation of the freshwater lens, changes in precipitation, such as the significant decreases projected for the Caribbean, can significantly affect the availability of water. Because tropical storms replenish water supplies, potential changes in these storms are a great concern. While it might initially be seen as a benefit, increased rainfall in the Pacific Islands during the summer months is likely to result in increased flooding, which would reduce drinking water quality and crop yields.534 In addition, many islands have weak distribution systems and old infrastructure, which result in significant water leakage, decreasing their ability to use freshwater efficiently. Water pollution (such as from agriculture or sewage), exacerbated by storms and floods, can contaminate the freshwater supply, affecting public health. Sea-level rise also affects island water supplies by causing salt water to contaminate the freshwater lens and by causing an increased frequency of flooding due to storm high tides.531 Finally, a rapidly rising population is straining the limited water resources, as would an increased incidence and/or intensity of storms534 or periods of prolonged drought.
Island communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems are vulnerable to coastal inundation due to sea-level rise and coastal storms.Sea-level rise will have enormous effects on many island nations. Flooding will become more frequent due to higher storm tides, and coastal land will be permanently lost as the sea inundates low-lying areas and the shorelines erode. Loss of land will reduce freshwater supplies531 and affect living things in coastal ecosystems. For example, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which are low-lying and therefore at great risk from increasing sea level, have a high concentration of endangered and threatened species, some of which exist nowhere else.535 The loss of nesting and nursing habitat is expected to threaten the survival of already vulnerable species.535 In addition to gradual sea-level rise, extreme high water level events can result from acombination of coastal processes.271 For example, the harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, experienced the highest daily average sea level ever recorded in September 2003. This resulted from the combination of long-term sea-level rise, normal seasonal heating (which causes the volume of water to expand and thus the level of the sea to rise), seasonal high tide, and an ocean circulation event which temporarily raised local sea level.536 The interval between such extreme events has decreased from more than 20 years to approximately 5 years as average sea level has risen.536
Hurricanes, typhoons, and other storm events, with their intense precipitation and storm surge, cause major impacts to Pacific and Caribbean island communities, including loss of life, damage to infrastructure and property, and contamination of freshwater supplies.537 As the climate continues to warm, the peak wind intensities and near-storm precipitation from future tropical cyclones are likely to increase,90 which, combined with sea-level rise, is expected to cause higher storm surge levels. If such events occur frequently, communities would face challenges in recovering between events, resulting in long-term deterioration of infrastructure, freshwater and agricultural resources, and other impacts.24
Critical infrastructure, including homes, airports, and roads, tends to be located along the coast. Flooding related to sea-level rise and hurricanes and typhoons negatively affects port facilities and harbors, and causes closures of roads, airports, and bridges.538 Long-term infrastructure damage would affect social services such as disaster risk management, health care, education, management of freshwater resources, and economic activity in sectors such as tourism and agriculture.
Adaptation: Securing Water Resources
In the islands, “water is gold.” Effective adaptation to climate-related changes in the availability of freshwater is thus a high priority. While island communities cannot completely counter the threats to water supplies posed by global warming, effective adaptation approaches can help reduce the damage. When existing resources fall short, managers look to unconventional resources, such as desalinating seawater, importing water by ship, and using treated wastewater for non-drinking uses. Desalination costs are declining, though concerns remain about the impact on marine life, the disposal of concentrated brines that may contain chemical waste, and the large energy use (and associated carbon footprint) of the process.146 With limited natural resources, the key to successful water resource management in the islands will continue to be “conserve, recover, and reuse.”530 Pacific Island communities are also making use of the latest science. This effort started during the 1997 to 1998 El Niño, when managers began using seasonal forecasts to prepare for droughts by increasing public awareness and encouraging water conservation. In addition, resource managers can improve infrastructure, such as by fixing water distribution systems to minimize leakage and by increasing freshwater storage capacity.530
Climate changes affecting coastal and marine ecosystems will have major implications for tourism and fisheries.Marine and coastal ecosystems of the islands are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Sea-level rise, increasing water temperatures, rising storm intensity, coastal inundation and flooding from extreme events, beach erosion, ocean acidification, increased incidences of coral disease, and increased invasions by non-native species are among the threats that endanger the ecosystems that provide safety, sustenance, economic viability, and cultural and traditional values to island communities.539 Tourism is a vital part of the economy for many islands. In 1999, the Caribbean had tourism-based gross earnings of $17 billion, providing 900,000 jobs and making the Caribbean one of the most tourism dependent regions in the world.532 In the South Pacific, tourism can contribute as much as 47 percent of gross domestic product.540 In Hawaii, tourism generated $12.4 billion for the state in 2006, with over 7 million visitors.541 Sea-level rise can erode beaches, and along with increasing water temperatures, can destroy or degrade natural resources such as mangroves and coral reef ecosystems that attract tourists.246 Extreme weather events can affect transportation systems and interrupt communications. The availability of freshwater is critical to sustaining tourism, but is subject to the climate-related impacts described on the previous page. Public health concerns about diseases would also negatively affect tourism. Coral reefs sustain fisheries and tourism, have biodiversity value, scientific and educational value, and form natural protection against wave erosion.542 For Hawaii alone, net benefits of reefs to the economy are estimated at $360 million annually, and the overall asset value is conservatively estimated to be nearly $10 billion.542 In the Caribbean, coral reefs provide annual net benefits from fisheries, tourism, and shoreline protection services of between $3.1 billion and $4.6 billion. The loss of income by 2015 from degraded reefs is conservatively estimated at several hundred million dollars annually.532,543 Coral reef ecosystems are particularly susceptible to the impacts of climate change, as even small increases in water temperature can cause coral bleaching,544 damaging and killing corals. Ocean acidification due to a rising carbon dioxide concentration poses an additional threat (see Ecosystems sector and Coasts region). Coral reef ecosystems are also especially vulnerable to invasive species.545 These impacts, combined with changes in the occurrence and intensity of El Niño events, rising sea level, and increasing storm damage,246 will have major negative effects on coral reef ecosystems. Fisheries feed local people and island economies. Almost all communities within the Pacific Islands derive over 25 percent of their animal protein from fish, with some deriving up to 69 percent.546 For island fisheries sustained by healthy coral reef and marine ecosystems, climate change impacts exacerbate stresses such as overfishing,246 affecting both fisheries and tourism that depend on abundant and diverse reef fish. The loss of live corals results in local extinctions and a reduced number of reef fish species.547 Nearly 70 percent of the world’s annual tuna harvest, approximately 3.2 million tons, comes from the Pacific Ocean.548 Climate change is projected to cause a decline in tuna stocks and an eastward shift in their location, affecting the catch of certain countries.246 |
Click here to download the Islands Region chapter from the report
