Climate change and island environments - Essay Example

No: Climate Change and Island Environment Introduction During the past few decades, the environmental economic and industrial revolution produced some of the hazardous effects that impacted the ecology and the environment of the world. The carbon emissions from the factories and the vehicles generate a blanket that allows the solar radiations to penetrate into the earth’s atmosphere and does not allow to escape and thus the temperature of the atmosphere increase at a constant rate and thus increase the global warming.

The effect is known as the green house effect. Green house effect is constantly increasing the temperature of the earth and thus impacting the ecology, agriculture, water resources, etc. The effects are sometimes catastrophic and impact the living beings at a higher degree. Agriculture and Climate change Ocean warming, frequent tropical cyclones, floods and droughts are the renowned impacts on Climate change in Pacific Islands. Local food production in pacific Island is very essential because the local inhibitors totally rely on subsistence agriculture.

Subsistence agriculture provides local food security to local inhibitors however because of the climate change agriculture process has been affecting. People of pacific Island used to export sugarcane, banana and forest products for their earning. Because of climate change, drought as well as fertility of soil looses that is a very bad effect. According to the scientific study island Fiji because of climate change can face a loss of USD 23 million to 52 million per year till 2050. Coastal System and Climate Change Climate change creates a bad effect on coastal environment and natural resources.

Poor rural people entirely rely on coastal environment and natural resources because the rising rate of erosion and coastal land loss are highly expected because of rising of sea level. For example Majuro atoll in the Marshall Islands and Kiribati, it is estimated that due to the 1 meter rise of sea level, 80% of land loss is expected (IFAD 7-16). Ecosystems and Climate Change Ecosystem services play an important role in determining the livelihood of the Island. However, the observed effects of the climate change are not such adverse that are estimated.

Some of the organisms within the island ecosystem such as coral reefs are much influenced with the little degree rise in the temperature (FAO 3-79). Like the Pacific Island’s mangrove area may decline from 1% to 13% as the temperature increases from 2o to 4o. In the Islands at higher altitudes, the temperature increase is causing the show to melt and thus endangering some species by increasing the amount of invasive species. Moreover, the increase in the level of the sea water might become a reason for the bleaching of the coral reef and effecting the reproduction of the coral reefs and thus lessening the life of the coral reefs.

Coral reefs are important in becoming a reason for providing the other species like fish, shelter and food. Biodiversity can be influenced by the events such as the cyclones, where the repetitations of the cyclones are increased. With just an increase of 2% in the temperature, the intensities of the cyclones are increased by 12 or 15%. Water Resources and Climate Change Water resources within the Island ecology are much influenced by a little variation in the temperature (Alliance of Small Island States & The United Nations Foundation 6-47).

Rainfalls are much influenced by a little increase in the temperature. A rise of about 2o C to 4o C, in particularly Pacific Islands, may project an economic loss of about $1 billion of water resources. The rich or elite class may have a little impact of his shortage but the poor and the farming class people who totally depend on the fresh water resources to attain livelihood may have the greater influence (Sem 2-19). Major impacts are the rise of temperature, decrease of rainfall and rising of sea level that are accountable for coastal erosion, saline intrusion in fresh water lenses which increases flooding that has highly bad effect on human settlements.

Rain is used to be greater than before in December, January and February in Southern Pacific and June, July and August in the northern Pacific. Shortage of water is the major economic and social downfall in the northern and southern Pacific Island. Weaknesses of infrastructure cause many leakages; water pollution, herbicide and pesticide run off, live stock waste and liquid and solid waste non-refundable in high cost. Works Cited Alliance of Small Island States and The United Nations Foundation.

Global Climate change and Small Island Developing States: Financing Adaptation. Green paper draft for review. February 5, 2008. Can be retrieved from http://www.un.int/wcm/webdav/site/suriname/shared/documents/papers/CLIMATECHANGEAOSIS_GreenPaper_Feb52008_.pdf Food and agriculture organization of the United Nations (FAO). Climate Change and Food Security in Pacific Island Countries. Food and agriculture organization of the United Nations. Rome. 2008. Can be retrieved from http://www.fao.org/climatechange/17003-02529d2a5afee62cce0e70d2d38e1e273.pdf IFAD. Climate Change Impacts: Pacific Islands.

The Global Mechanism: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. 2007. Can be retrieved from http://www.ifad.org/events/apr09/impact/islands.pdf Sem, Graham. Appraisal Mission: “Managing the Impact of climate change on land resources in the Pacific”: Climate Change in the Pacific Islands: Impacts and Scope for Action. Sustainable Environmental Management Ltd. Auckland, New Zealand. 2009. Can be retrieved from http://www.sprep.org/att/irc/ecopies/pacific_region/665.pdf