Climate Change and Pacific Islands: Indicators and Impacts is a report developed by the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) to assess the state of climate knowledge, impacts, and adaptive capacity of Hawai‘i and the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). The PIRCA is a collaborative effort engaging federal, state, and local government agencies, non-government organizations, businesses, and community groups to inform and prioritize their activities in the face of a changing climate.
Together almost 100 scientific experts and practitioners generated this integrated report to provide a regional contribution to the US National Climate Assessment (NCA), which is conducted under the mandate of the United States Global Change Research Act of 1990. The PIRCA report examines the impacts and adaptive capacity of Pacific Island communities regarding climate change effects on freshwater availability and quality; regional and community economies; urbanization, transportation, and infrastructure vulnerabilities; ecosystem services; ocean resource sustainability and coastal zone management; cultural resources; and adaptation policy.
The initial PIRCA activities were conducted August 2011 through February 2012 and included multiple dialogs and three workshops to facilitate sharing, analyzing, and reporting on scientific consensus, knowledge gaps, sectoral needs, and adaptive capacity for addressing the changing climate. The material presented in the report is based largely on published research. The report was reviewed and approved by the PIRCA Steering Committee and workshop participants were invited to comment on the draft report.
To request hard copies of the PIRCA report, please contact PIRCA Sustained Assessment Specialist Zena Grecni.