The Pacific RISA 2023-2024 Annual Report is LIVE!

This year, our third year of Phase IV funding, we accelerated research, outreach, and policy implementation with outcomes across all aspects of the program: engaged with Native Hawaiian and frontline or underserved communities; advanced modeling and visualization tools focused on the Island of Kauaʻi as a research hub; led authorship of the Hawaiʻi and Pacific Islands chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment; mapped compound flooding impacts; informed US federal agencies about the dual threat of invasive species and climate change, and initiated the next-generation of Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) reports.

In August 2023, we saw firsthand how the synergistic effects of invasive species and a changing climate can impact the landscape, as a fast-moving wildfire devastated the town of Lāhainā, Maui, and ultimately became one of the deadliest wildfires in United States history. High winds with gusts up to 80 miles per hour were recorded on the dry, leeward slopes of the Hawaiian Islands due to Hurricane Dora, which passed 550 miles to the south of the archipelago. With dry conditions resulting from a summer of extreme drought, the risk of fire in Hawaiʻi was already high when the gusting winds likely caused the start of the fire and then accelerated it while also grounding the firefighting helicopters. Invasive grasses, a consequence of Hawaiʻi’s plantation history, cover over a quarter of the land in the state and burned quickly in the fire that was responsible for billions of dollars in damages and the displacement of thousands of residents. In response to the fire, Pacific RISA developed a web page with resources for understanding the context and science of wildfire in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Islands. As the devastating impacts of the fire continued to unfold, the team also responded to numerous media interviews and requests for information.

Click to download and explore the Pacific RISA 2023-2024 Annual Report