Continuous warnings from environmental groups on the effects of global warming have constantly fallen on deaf ears. Then as the world settled after Christmas Day celebrations, an earthquake measuring 8.9 to 9.0 on the Richter scale rocked Asia. There has been speculation that the earthquake and tsunamis could be linked to global warming. Mary Johns ask World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) Fiji Climate Change Project Officer, Francis Areki, about global warming and the recent disaster.
Times: What is global warming? What causes global warming? How has it affected us? Does global warming also come with advantages or benefits?
Areki: Global warming is a natural phenomenon whereby the earth's climate is driven by a continuous flow of energy from the sun, which we receive as heat through its rays. Some of this heat is absorbed by the earth’s surface while the remainder bounces off the surface into the atmosphere and out into space.
In order to prevent all this heat being completely lost into space, some of it is retained within the earth's atmosphere by a blanket of greenhouse gases — (water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane, nitrous oxide and halo carbons). This blanket of gases retains heat (similar to a greenhouse) such that the temperature on earth is suitable for life. Without it the planet would be too cold to sustain any form of life.
Although global warming is natural, what we are concerned with is human induced global warming. This is when humans, through many of there industrial activities, emit excess greenhouse gases causing an imbalance in the atmosphere. Activities like industrial pollution, deforestation, burning of fossil fuels all contribute to this imbalance.
For example, carbon dioxide emissions are now 12 times higher than in 1900 as the world burns more fossilized fuels for energy. As more and more of these gases get released into the atmosphere, what happens is that the “greenhouse blanket†in the atmosphere thickens causing more heat that is meant to be lost in space to be trapped, causing our planet to heat up.
The question you may ask is, so what? The thing is this heat is linked and is what drives global weather patterns and climate. Changes such as prolonged droughts, sporadic rainfall, excessive rainfall and flooding should be expected as the earth heats up. This is especially so with El Nino events, where you can have devastating floods in Peru and drought and forest fires in Asia and Australia.
In the Pacific, we are considered very vulnerable to changes brought about by climate change, for one we are low lying coastal nations. When the earth heats up, glaciers begin to melt, not only in the South Pole but also the Himalayas and other mountain ranges and peaks. All these frozen water eventually ends up in the ocean. When this happens, the sea level begins to rise and with nations like Tuvalu and Kiribati where the highest point is only a meter above sea level and even some of the small islands in Fiji, this is not good news, because its means the sea will begin to eat away at their coastal land.
Coastal erosion has been recorded in Fiji and many of our Pacific neighbors, and is a major threat to infrastructure and prime coastal areas.
The changes that affect rainfall will definitely affect our economies, as a large part of island economies derive income from the agriculture and forestry sectors.
Prolonged drought means reduced productivity, exports and a lower GDP. Our fisheries are also affected by warmer oceans, corals die off as coastal waters warm, causing changes in fish biodiversity and productivity. These are just some of the impacts that Pacific islanders need to be aware of. There are indeed some benefits that can be derived from human induced global warming.
Fiji for instance has been cited to benefit as tuna stocks will tend to move into our waters because of changes in oceanic water temperatures and our waters become more suited to cultivating black pearls that is delimited to areas such as the Cook Islands. Also, with more carbon dioxide in the air, certain places would benefit through increased agricultural output.
However, it must be made clear that the negative impact in the case of the Pacific far outweighs the benefits. The loss of traditional lands, damage to coastal infrastructure, issues of relocation and rebuilding and whether benefits can indeed be utilized all work against developing nations in the Pacific.
Times: How are natural disasters linked to global warming?
Areki: As I mentioned earlier, global climate is driven by heat retained by the greenhouse blanket.
Cyclones for instance develop over oceans in 8 to 15 N and S latitudes and require a high sea surface temperature, over 27C in order for it to form. With human induced global warming, what this means is that it actually increases the probability of cyclones forming, which is not a good thing to have. Also, El Nino, as mentioned, has been linked to flash floods in South America and severe droughts and bush fires in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia.
Fiji has suffered from one such event in 1997 — one of the worst droughts recorded in the country.
Times: Are tsunamis linked to global warming?
Areki: No, tsunamis are not linked to global warming.
Tsunamis or seismic sea waves are basically a train of sea waves triggered by an earthquake. These are linked to movements in tectonic plates, the energy released from this movement results in quakes and tsunamis. I think with the current seismic activity in the region and even Suva, it would be an interesting story to find out what the Government has ready in terms of disaster preparedness, considering all the new high rise buildings in Suva are not earthquake compliant. I think Suva City is a disaster waiting to happen, should be something you'd like to follow up on.