HR: 1340h
AN: GC13B-1232    [Abstracts]
TI: Indian Ocean Small Island States: Indicators of Dangerous Anthropogenic Influences of Climate Change?
AU: * Mills, W B
EM: bill.mills@tetratech.com
AF: Tetra Tech, Inc., 3746 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Suite 300, Lafayette, CA 94549 United States
AU: Heidel, K
EM: katherine.heidel@tetratech.com
AF: Tetra Tech, Inc., 3746 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Suite 300, Lafayette, CA 94549 United States
AU: Chung, C
EM: chih-fang.chung@tetratech.com
AF: Tetra Tech, Inc., 3746 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Suite 300, Lafayette, CA 94549 United States
AB: This study focuses on both the climatic and non-climatic stresses that affect Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Indian Ocean. SIDS are independent developing nations that are located in the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. For this project four SIDS in the Indian Ocean have been studied: Comoros, Seychelles, Mauritius, and the Maldives. A general characteristic of these SIDS is that they have been little studied in the past, they have limited modern infrastructure, and hold the perception that environmental conditions on their islands are worsening at an accelerated pace. These SIDS are all densely populated, with populations per island between 90,000 to 1,200,000. The population growth rate is also high. This study has examined major environmental issues faced by all of these islands, including natural hazards (such as volcanic eruptions,tropical cyclones, and tsunamis), and climate related changes (such as warming, precipitation changes, and sea level rise). Comparisons between impacts of climate change, natural hazards, and population and tourism were made. It was concluded that the Maldives, due to such features as being a very low-lying island group, are now showing effects of climate related changes such as sea level rise, and that in the future it is likely that climatic stresses will compete with population growth as the major stressor on all of the islands.
DE: 1222 Ocean monitoring with geodetic techniques (1225, 1641, 3010, 4532, 4556, 4560, 6959)
DE: 1225 Global change from geodesy (1222, 1622, 1630, 1641, 1645, 4556)
DE: 1616 Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513)
DE: 1635 Oceans (1616, 3305, 4215, 4513)
SC: Global Climate Change [GC]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005