Hawai'i and Pacific Islands

A range of regional partners collaborate to produce these quarterly reports. Brief updates on recent climate impacts to facilities and infrastructure, water resources, agriculture, natural resources, and public health make it easy to find information of interest. The site features a regional map showing model-based forecasts for below-average, average, or above-average precipitation for the next season. Links to regional collaborators make it easy for users to find expertise for their resilience-building efforts.

Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) is a collaborative effort to assess climate change indicators, impacts, and adaptive capacity of the Hawaiian archipelago and the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). PIRCA engages federal, state, and local government agencies, non-government organizations, academia, businesses, and community groups to inform and prioritize their activities in the face of a changing climate.

Projected temperature-driven spread of avian malaria has prompted significant concern about the impact of climate change on forest bird species in Hawai'i. This project provides detailed projections of future range change for each Hawaiian forest bird species. Preliminary results suggest significant range loss by the year 2100 for many species.

Hawai‘i is expected to experience sea level rise of one foot by 2050 and three feet by the end of the century—sea level rise of this magnitude poses significant economic, social, and environmental challenges. This toolkit aims to help people identify and explain key land-use policy tools that state and local government agencies can use in support of sea level rise adaptation in Hawai‘i. 

Despite global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the state of Hawai'i recognizes that climate change impacts will require adaptation to new conditions. This portal provides information to help residents understand climate science and take steps to prepare for climate change. 

Specifically, the site tracks the work of the state's Interagency Climate Adaptation Committee. The committee's first task is to develop a statewide Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Report—referred to as the SLR Report—by December 31, 2017.

This site offers current drought status and notices, drought forecasts, and drought planning resources. Additionally, users can find links to data and research related to drought in the Hawaiian Islands.

Drought forecast topics include the El Niño Diagnostic Discussion and Tropical Pacific Islands Rainfall Outlooks. Users can also find the Hawai'i Drought Plan, suggestions for where to seek drought assistance, drought mitigation strategies by county, and links to water conservation plans and the Hawai'i Wildfire Management Organization. 

The Hawaiian Islands have one of the most diverse topographic patterns on Earth. As a result, the islands can experience dramatic differences in mean rainfall over short distances. Knowledge of the mean rainfall patterns is critically important for a variety of resource management issues, including groundwater and surface water development and protection, controlling and eradicating invasive species, protecting and restoring native ecosystems, and planning for the effects of global warming.

The Pacific ENSO Update is a bulletin of the Pacific El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Applications Climate (PEAC) Center, providing information on climate variability related to the ENSO climate cycle for the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). The newsletter is intended to supply information for the benefit of those involved in such climate-sensitive sectors as civil defense, resource management, and developmental planning in the various jurisdictions of the USAPI.