By: Gursimran Padda
A map of the South Pacific. Vaka Moana: Voyages of the Ancestors – the discovery and settlement of the Pacific, ed K.R. Howe, 2008, p57.
One of the primary ways that climate change affects the South Pacific is rising sea levels. Though there are many causes, the main one is global warming, caused by the greenhouse effect in which greenhouse gasses trap heat in the atmosphere. Due to an excess amount of greenhouse gasses this effect is multiplied, causing effects such as the expansion of water volume in the ocean and the melting of glaciers, which both contribute to sea level rise.
Many of the islands in the South Pacific are low lying atolls, many of which are barely above sea level. Take for example the country of Kiribati, made up of 32 atolls and islands with an average elevation of 6.5 feet above sea level according to Brian Reed of NPR. Denise Chow of NBC had also reported that 3 islands had sunk in Kiribati in 2018 due to climate change related flooding and extreme weather patterns, which shows us how real the issue is.
On top of contributing to the flooding, rising sea levels also contribute to the killing off of coral reefs through increased sedimentation which smothers the coral, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These reefs serve as a buffer and first range of defense against extreme weather and flooding, as they die off the islands of the South Pacific and the people on them become more vulnerable to erosion and coastal damage (NOAA). These reefs are also incredibly productive ecosystems which peoples of the pacific rely on for fishing. As stated by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, other livelihood damages include increased drought likelihoods caused by global warming, which can dry out soil and plant life, making farming and also accumulation of food more difficult.
As sea levels rise, freshwater access also declines. The main way that freshwater is accessed in the South Pacific is by lensing, or water tables found underneath the island which float above the denser saltwater, as stated by Gordon Tribble’s “Ground Water on Tropical Pacific Islands— Understanding a Vital Resource”. As sea levels rise, these freshwater tables are encroached on, thereby contaminating the freshwater available.
Chow, Denise. “Three Islands Disappeared in the Past Year. Is Climate Change to Blame?” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 9 June 2019, https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/three-islands-disappeared-past-year-climate-change-blame-ncna1015316.
Reed, Brian. “Climate Change and Faith Collide in Kiribati.” NPR, NPR, 16 Feb. 2011, https://www.npr.org/2011/02/16/133650679/climate-change-and-faith-collide-in-kiribati#:~:text=The%20average%20height%20of%20the,There%27s%20nowhere%20to%20retreat.
Tribble, Gordon. “Ground Water on Tropical Pacific Islands-Understanding a Vital Resource.” USGS Publications Warehouse, U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey, 2008, https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1312/.
“Drought and Climate Change.” Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, https://www.c2es.org/content/drought-and-climate-change/#:~:text=There%20are%20a%20number%20of,would%20be%20in%20cooler%20conditions.&text=Recent%20U.S.%20droughts%20have%20been%20the%20most%20expansive%20in%20decades.
“How Does Climate Change Affect Coral Reefs?” NOAA’s National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce, 3 Mar. 2015, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coralreef-climate.html#:~:text=Sea%20level%20rise%3A%20may%20lead,the%20destruction%20of%20coral%20reefs.