A Case Study on Climate Change Response and Adaptation: Fictional Aysese Islands in the South Pacific

Amy Cannon¹, Peter Lalor², Shobha Sriharan³, Chunlei Fan⁴, Gulnihal Ozbay^1*

¹Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Delaware State University, Dover, DE, USA.
²University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.
³School of Agriculture, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA.
⁴School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ajcc.2014.35040                

Abstract

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established by the United Nations and World Meteorological Organization, has determined that humans have very likely influenced a net warming to the Earth from the increase of greenhouse gases, aerosols and land use changes. This warming has caused the amount of ice on the Earth to continue to decrease and sea levels to rise. In addition, extreme precipitation events are happening more often in selected regions of the world. A case study that assesses the impacts of, and adaptations to, these changes in climate is presented here. Two modeling programs, Sim CLIM and Train CLIM, (CLIM Systems, Hamilton, New Zealand) were used to support assessments for water supply, coastal zones and tropical cyclones in a fictitious island group in the South Pacific region. In the case study, a consulting group was “hired” to carry out these assessments. A final analysis and synthesis report were created to help the Ministry of the Environment of the made-up nation decide how to improve the governmental actions to address the real concerns posed by changing climate and sea level. Although a simulated island group is used in this article, there are sincere concerns about climate change and extreme weather events in this part of the world. It is important to address the real and dangerous threat that these islands and people face in the wake of a changing climate and a growing global society.

Keywords

Climate Change, Case Study, Water Supply, Coastal Zone Erosion, Tropical Cyclones

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Alley, R.B., Berntsen, T., Bindoff, N.L., Chen, Z., Chidthaisong, A., Gregory, J.M., Hegerl, G.C., Heimann, M., Hewitson, B., Hoskins, B.J., Joos, F., Jouzel, J., Kattsov, V., Lohmann, U., Matsuno, T., Molina, M., Nicholls, N., Overpeck, J., Raga, G., Ramaswamy, V., Ren, J., Rusticucci, M., Somerville, R., Stocker, T.F., Whetton, P., Wood, R.A. and Wratt, D. (2007) Technical Summary. In: Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K.B., Tignor, M. and Miller, H.L., Eds., Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis, Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
[2]	Field, C., Barros, V. and Mastrandrea, M. (2014) Technical Summary: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. IPCC WGII AR5 Technical Summary, 76. http://ipcc-wg2.gov/AR5/images/uploads/WGIIAR5-TS_FGDall.pdf
[3]	Global Issues (2013) Coral Reefs: Global Threats to Coral Reefs. Climate Change Causing Global Mass Coral Bleaching. http://www.globalissues.org/article/173/coral-reefs#
[4]	Hossain, M.A. (2011) Global Warming Induced Sea Level Rise on Soil, Land and Crop Production Loss in Bangladesh. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology, 1, 266. http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/86164944/global-warming- induced-sea-level-rise-soil-land-crop-production-loss-bangladesh
[5]	IRIN (2014) GLOBAL: Cholera, Climate Change and El Nino. IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis. Report: 86487. http://www.irinnews.org/report/86487/global-cholera-climate-change-and- el-ni%C3%B1o
[6]	Traerup, S.L.M., Ortiz, R.A. and Markandya, A. (2010) The Health Impacts of Climate Change: A Study of Cholera in Tanzania. Basque Centre for Climate Change. Klima Aldaketa Ikergai. BC3 Working Paper Series 2010-01, 27. http://www.bc3research.org/working_papers/view.html
[7]	Keener, V.W., Marra, J.J., Finucane, M.L., Spooner, D. and Smith, M.H. (2012) Climate Change and Pacific Islands: Indicators and Impacts. Executive Summary of the 2012 Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA), 7. www.EastWestCenter.org/PIRCA http://www.cakex.org/sites/default/files/documents/Exec-Summary- PIRCA-FINAL2.pdf
[8]	Bettencourt, S., Croad, R., Freeman, P., Hay, J., Jones, R., King, P., Lal, P., Mearns, J., Miller, G., Pswarayi-Riddihough, I., Simpson, A., Teuatabo, N., Trotz, U. and Van Aalst, M. (2006) Not If but When: Adapting to Natural Hazards in the Pacific Islands Region, a Policy Note. World Bank. East Asia and Pacific Region. Pacific Islands Country Management Unit.
[9]	Griffiths, G.M., Salinger, M.J. and Leleu, I. (2003) Trends in Extreme Daily Rainfall across the South Pacific and Relationship to the South Pacific Convergence Zone. International Journal of Climatology, 23, 847-869. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joc.923/pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joc.923
[10]	IPCC (2014) Working Group I: The Scientific Basis. The Projections of the Earth’s Future Climate. The IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES). http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg1/029.htm
[11]	Nicholls, R.J., Hoozemans, F.M.J. and Marchand, M. (1999) Increasing Flood Risk and Wetland Losses Due to Global Sea-Level Rise: Regional and Global Analyses. Global Environmental Change, 9, S69-S87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0959-3780(99)00019-9