A regional technical climate science report containing country-scale historical climate and ocean variability and trend information was launched by the Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific today.

The report shows that communities in COSPPac partner countries and territories experience climate and ocean variability on weekly to seasonal timescales.

These communities also experience natural extreme events such as droughts, tropical cyclones, coastal and river flooding, and coral bleaching.

The occurrence of these extreme events and, in some cases, multiple events occurring simultaneously, can have devastating impacts.

Dr. Simon MC Gree, who is the coordinating lead author of the report, says understanding and adapting to climate change in the Pacific requires being able to differentiate between climate variability and long-term change.

The regional summary of the report also includes information about rainfall records, air temperature, tropical cyclones, sea surface temperature, sea level, ocean waves, and extreme ocean waves.

While producing the report, the authors noted a significant decline in the availability of high-quality Pacific Island data and metadata.

The report is in response to regional calls for the international community to immediately increase support and assistance for Pacific-led science-based initiatives intended to improve our understanding of risk and vulnerability and build support for evidence-based decision-making and project development.