“The situation on O‘ahu regarding erosion is really terrible,” state Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands administrator Sam Lemmo told the City and County of Honolulu’s Climate Change Commission at its meeting last month. The Wai‘anae Coast is experiencing serious … Continued
The stop gate for the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. Originally built 150 feet from the shoreline, it is now in danger of being inundated by waves. The Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant collects sewage from more than 400,000 residents … Continued
How does the middle of the Pacific Ocean, an area that’s practically a desert when it comes to the nutrients that lie at the very heart of the marine food chain, manage to support some of the largest life forms … Continued
A recent rapid assessment of 83 marine species from throughout the Pacific found that sharks — including the threatened oceanic whitetip — sea cucumbers, urchins and clams are highly vulnerable to expected climate change effects over the next few decades. … Continued
Marti Townsend, director of the Sierra Club’s Hawai‘i Chapter, asked the audience crammed into a state capitol conference room last month to imagine a world in which fossil fuel companies in the 1980s took the warnings of its scientists about … Continued
For the second legislative session since the state unveiled its Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report, bills based on the report’s recommendations largely failed. Among those were bills that would have forced sellers of real property to disclose whether … Continued
When it comes to climate change, City & County of Honolulu Department of Emergency Services (DES) director Jim Howe is already taking steps to deal with what’s coming. “This is here. This is real. We have a choice. … We … Continued
The state Legislature tried to make great strides to address the flooding projections in the Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report (SLR report) issued just before the session began, but wound up taking a baby step. Armed with the … Continued
In its first few meetings, Honolulu’s new Climate Change Commission has heard from a slew of city agency heads about the status of their respective agencies’ efforts to plan for climate change effects. Some agencies have gone further than others. … Continued
Two years ago, research by the University of Hawai`i’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) revealed that flooding from the combination of a one-meter rise in sea level and a hurricane or a tsunami could affect 80 … Continued