Building upon previous work and as part of the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) sustained regional assessment process, researchers will develop materials that describe the current state of environmental conditions in Hawaiʻi and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) via a set of foundational regional indicators as a way to:
Provide meaningful regionally and locally relevant information about the status, rates, patterns and trends of key physical, biological, chemical, and ecological variables in light of a changing climate; and
Provide the above information in a form that is accessible and useful to a wide variety of stakeholders in the public and private sectors as well as the education and scientific communities, thereby facilitating communication and informing decisions on management, research, and education.
Waves overtopping a seawall in Majuro, capital of the RMI (Photo credit: David Krzesni)
The initial State of Environmental Conditions in Hawaiʻi and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands under a Changing Climate report was developed in 2017 as a regional supplement to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Environmental Information (NOAA NCEI) State Summaries prepared as part of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4). A set of eight foundational indicators* were identified, grouped into one of the following broad categories: greenhouse gases; weather and climate; and oceans and coasts. Under the proposed work, the 2017 State of Environmental Conditions report would be updated to include the latest information on past, recent, and likely future changes in climate in the Pacific Islands region via the eight foundational indicators. Unlike the 2017 report, which grouped information into broad geographic subregions – Central, Western, and South Pacific, it would group information on an “island/country-specific” basis and thereby provide a level of detail more amenable to enabling action. Ultimately the products generated through this effort informed the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) as well as a range of economic, environmental and social decision-making and local vulnerability assessments, by government, industry, and communities.
Partners Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, and other regional/international partners.
References
Marra, J.J., Gooley, G., Johnson, M-V.V., Keener, V.W., Kruk, M.K., McGree, S., Potemra, J.T., and Warrick, O. [Eds.] (2022). Pacific Climate Change Monitor: 2021. The Pacific Islands-Regional Climate Centre (PI-RCC) Network Report to the Pacific Islands Climate Service (PICS) Panel and Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC). DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6965143.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and Australian Bureau of Meteorology. (2014). Climate variability, extremes, and change in the western tropical Pacific: New science and updated country reports. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.
Marra, J., C. Courtney, and L. Brewington, 2021: The Pacific Islands Climate Storybook. Honolulu, HI: The Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments Program. www.pacificrisa.org/pacific-islands-climate-storybook/
State of Environmental Conditions in Hawaii and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands under a Changing Climate: 2017. Coordinating Authors: J.J. Marra and M.C. Kruk. Contributing Authors: M. Abecassis; H. Diamond; A. Genz; S.F. Heron; M. Lander; G. Liu; J. T. Potemra; W.V. Sweet; P. Thompson; M.W. Widlansky; and P. Woodworth-Jefcoats. September, 2017. NOAA NCEI
Our Vision
Resilient and sustainable Pacific Island communities using climate information to manage risks and support practical decision-making about climate variability and change.
State of Environmental Conditions in Hawaiʻi and the USAPI
This project has now produced several tools and publications: The Pacific Islands Climate Storybook, and the Pacific Islands Climate Change Monitor: 2021 (PCCM). The Pacific Islands Climate Change Forum (PICCF), designed to present objective, user-relevant information about the current and future climate in the Pacific was held virtually in April 2022.
Building upon previous work and as part of the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) sustained regional assessment process, researchers will develop materials that describe the current state of environmental conditions in Hawaiʻi and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) via a set of foundational regional indicators as a way to:
The initial State of Environmental Conditions in Hawaiʻi and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands under a Changing Climate report was developed in 2017 as a regional supplement to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Environmental Information (NOAA NCEI) State Summaries prepared as part of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4). A set of eight foundational indicators* were identified, grouped into one of the following broad categories: greenhouse gases; weather and climate; and oceans and coasts. Under the proposed work, the 2017 State of Environmental Conditions report would be updated to include the latest information on past, recent, and likely future changes in climate in the Pacific Islands region via the eight foundational indicators. Unlike the 2017 report, which grouped information into broad geographic subregions – Central, Western, and South Pacific, it would group information on an “island/country-specific” basis and thereby provide a level of detail more amenable to enabling action. Ultimately the products generated through this effort informed the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) as well as a range of economic, environmental and social decision-making and local vulnerability assessments, by government, industry, and communities.
*The eight foundational indicators include: Atmospheric Concentration of Carbon Dioxide, Surface Temperature, Rainfall, Surface Winds and Tropical Cyclones, Sea Level, Sea Surface Temperature, Ocean Acidification, Ocean Chlorophyll Concentration
Research Team
Dr. John Marra, NOAA NCEI
Dr. Laura Brewington, Arizona State University, East-West Center
Dr. Victoria Keener, Arizona State University, East-West Center
Partners
Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, and other regional/international partners.
References
Marra, J.J., Gooley, G., Johnson, M-V.V., Keener, V.W., Kruk, M.K., McGree, S., Potemra, J.T., and Warrick, O. [Eds.] (2022). Pacific Climate Change Monitor: 2021. The Pacific Islands-Regional Climate Centre (PI-RCC) Network Report to the Pacific Islands Climate Service (PICS) Panel and Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC). DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6965143.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and Australian Bureau of Meteorology. (2014). Climate variability, extremes, and change in the western tropical Pacific: New science and updated country reports. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.
Marra, J., C. Courtney, and L. Brewington, 2021: The Pacific Islands Climate Storybook. Honolulu, HI: The Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments Program. www.pacificrisa.org/pacific-islands-climate-storybook/
State of Environmental Conditions in Hawaii and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands under a Changing Climate: 2017. Coordinating Authors: J.J. Marra and M.C. Kruk. Contributing Authors: M. Abecassis; H. Diamond; A. Genz; S.F. Heron; M. Lander; G. Liu; J. T. Potemra; W.V. Sweet; P. Thompson; M.W. Widlansky; and P. Woodworth-Jefcoats. September, 2017. NOAA NCEI
Our Vision
Resilient and sustainable Pacific Island communities using climate information to manage risks and support practical decision-making about climate variability and change.
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