Insular Areas Climate Change Act: Strengthen Territories’ Response to Climate Disasters and Protect the Most Vulnerable
FURIA, Inc.
Juan Declet-Barreto,
Climate Vulnerability Social Scientist | May 10, 2021, 6:00 am EDT
Islands and their people are more vulnerable to climate impacts than continental jurisdictions. They are more unprotected from climate ravages that are becoming more ferocious. Their vulnerability is related to climate change, but more directly to the effect of human decisions. For this reason it is urgent that their problems be addressed decisively and effectively, and that we do not skimp on resources or strategies to protect their lives and infrastructure.
Under a changing climate, islands are increasingly suffering from hurricanes or typhoons, and are hard-pressed to withstand the damage caused by the winds and storm surges that they bring with them. The amount of drinking water that islands receive in the form of rain is limited by what can be collected in their land base, and the reliability that rain will fall in similar amounts compared with previous years is reduced by global warming. Also, sea-level rise and coastal erosion threaten the wellbeing of people, their communities, and infrastructure. Island flora and fauna are more sensitive to changes in temperature, precipitation, and sea level because their ecosystems have evolved in an isolated way after the separation of the continental masses, and due to the fact that they are on islands, they cannot move to adjacent areas. Although islands are found in all latitudes, such as Australia, Indonesia, the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, most are found in tropical latitudes near the equator, where the impact of extreme temperatures is also more marked.