Hawai`i:
Ground zero
No paradise with global climate change
Global climate change not only threatens Hawaii’s environment and economy, it may dramatically alter our island way of life. Should heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, current scientific consensus predicts a future very different than one to which we are accustomed:
- The Pacific Ocean may inundate most of Waikiki, the business district in Honolulu, and coastal resort areas on other islands.
- Stronger hurricanes with greater moisture content may pummel the islands.
- Islands’ aquifers may become increasingly contaminated through saltwater intrusion. More severe storms and hurricanes may pummel the islands.
- Droughts may be more prolonged, and loss of soil moisture may make farming far more difficult.
- Subtle shifts in island microclimates may rapidly increase extinctions of endangered plants and animals. Warmer temperatures may allow invasive species to occupy native habitats at higher elevations.
To view a video of potential
sea level rise at Waikiki, please click here
(2 mb WMV file).
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (4th Assessment, February 2007) states that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal” and “most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely (>90%) due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations.” Others are equally as confident in the science. James Baker of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said “There’s a better scientific consensus on this than on any issue I know, except maybe Newton’s second law of dynamics.” Donald Kennedy, the Editor-in-Chief of Science Magazine, says “consensus as strong as the one that has developed around this topic is rare in science.”
© 2007 Rising Tide Hawai`i.