Climate change in the UKOTs an overview of the ... - JNCC - Defra

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Acknowledgements: This booklet is produced by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee with funding from the Overseas Territories Environment Programme (OTEP). It is published with assistance from the Commonwealth Foundation. Thank you to everyone who contributed in different ways toward the publication. Lead author: Nicole A. Brown CANARI team: Sarah McIntosh, Leslie Walling, Owen Day, Leigh Morton, Alex McCaffery Editorial/Steering Committee: Tara Pelembe (JNCC) Diana Mortimer (JNCC) Deborah Procter (JNCC) Karen Dickenson (JNCC) Gina Ebanks-Petrie (Director, Department of Environment Cayman Islands) Jack Ward (Director, Department of Conservation Services, Bermuda) Susanna Musick (Director, Department of Conservation, Ascension Island) Elaine Kendall (Defra) Rowena Harding (Commonwealth Foundation) Jean-Phillipe Palasi (IUCN) Sarah Sanders (RSPB) Contributors: Timothy Austin (Cayman Islands Government), Tom Boden (CDIAC), Rob Bowman (Foreign and Commonwealth Office), Dr Barbara Carby (Cayman Islands Government), Darren Christie (Government of South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands), Rhon A. Connor (Government of Anguilla), Athena Dinar (British Antarctic Survey), Corinda Essex (St. Helena Government), Steven Freeman (AM-Sciences), James Glass (Tristan da Cunha Government), Lisa Greene (Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo), Mike Halpert (NOAA), Karim V. D. Hodge (Government of Anguilla), Kevin Hughes (British Antarctic Survey), Andy Holbrook (Cayman Islands Government), Lisa-Ann Hurlston (Cayman Islands Government), Gordon Liddle (University of Dundee), Jeremy Madeiros (Bermuda Department of Conservation Services), Farah Mukhida (Anguilla National Trust), Grant Munro (Falklands Conservation), Helen Otley (Falkland Islands Government), Louise Quarrell (Impetus Consulting), Professor Charles Sheppard (University of Warwick), Vince Thompson (St. Helena National Trust), Melinda Tignor (IPCC). Cover Photographs: Rockhopper penguins – Falklands Conservation Storm in Cayman Islands – Department of Environment, Cayman Islands Fisherman’s pirogue – Steve Freeman, AM-Sciences Reef – Charles Sheppard Cayman Islands beach – Department of Environment, Cayman Islands Government Funding: Funded by Overseas Territories Environment Programme. Citation: This document should be cited as Brown, N. 2008. Climate change in the UK Overseas Territories: An Overview of the Science, Policy and You. Peterborough,UK: Joint Nature Conservation Committee ISBN-13:978 1 86107 609 0
Foreword Climate change is without doubt the most pressing of the world’s environmental issues, if only because other serious issues such as biodiversity loss, shortage of fresh water and increasingly problematic food security are all linked with, or a consequence of climate change. Large land areas may have sufficient buffering space to be able to manage the fallout from climate change, but islands often do not, having finite and limited resources. Ecosystem services, including the ability for ecosystems to help mitigate against and adapt to climate change, are present everywhere, however, and islands often have well adapted ecosystems in this way. Understanding these, and then conserving and managing them well, must be an Dr Peter Bridgewater imperative for the future. Climate change is seen as critical to the long term health of ecosystems – yet it is also critical to the health of people, simply by virtue of ecosystem changes. We can no longer assume that we are not connected with nature; our future on the planet is inextricably entwined with that of nature. Thus this means that for the overseas territories of the UK, as with small islands generally, there are very special threats for very special systems. We know that climate change is not easily forecastable, and that existing models are not necessarily in synchrony. But we also know for certain that we have to face up to increasing uncertainty. And managing for uncertainty is the most challenging issues for the territories. This booklet attempts to explain climate change in an 'easy-to-read' way for decision makers and the wider community in the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), so that they can get a good grasp of the basic key concepts. It also attempts to outline what the present and future impacts of climate change will be specifically for the
Page 1: Climate Change in the UK Overseas T
Page 6 and 7: UKOTs, and outlines options for ada
Page 8 and 9: Abbreviations and Acronyms ACC Anta
Page 10 and 11: Glossary cont’d El Niño/El Niño
Page 12 and 13: Executive Summary What do droughts
Page 14 and 15: varying degrees on tourism. The env
Page 16 and 17: Why climate change matters for UKOT
Page 18 and 19: pledged $182m to international fund
Page 20 and 21: “ Addressing climate change is an
Page 22 and 23: Box 2. The UK Overseas Territories
Page 24 and 25: 22 Atlantic, lying 912 km east of t
Page 26 and 27: 24 Climate: Tropical climate. Topog
Page 28 and 29: 26 Main economic activities: Gibral
Page 30 and 31: 28 Biodiversity: St. Helena's isola
Page 32 and 33: Why climate change matters for UKOT
Page 34 and 35: Number of reef provinces with moder
Page 36 and 37: Sunlight passes through the greenho
Page 38 and 39: The carbon dioxide imbalance It is
Page 40 and 41: Observed trends Some of the IPCC co
Page 42 and 43: Sea level and temperature: Global a
Page 44 and 45: 42 Box 6. Three temperature increas
Page 46 and 47: Changing growing seasons, drought a
Page 48 and 49: eds, higher seas surface temperatur
Page 50 and 51: Observed change Data and informatio
Page 52 and 53: designated wetland of international
Page 54 and 55:
Higher temperatures and variability
Page 56 and 57:
54 Corals killed by sea warming in
Page 58 and 59:
Ascension Island St. Helena Falklan
Page 60 and 61:
3.2.7 South Pacific There is one UK
Page 62 and 63:
Why climate change matters for UKOT
Page 64 and 65:
4.1 Mainstreaming adaptation The co
Page 66 and 67:
and capacity rather than rely on a
Page 68 and 69:
Box 12 cont’d uprooted or snapped
Page 70 and 71:
Some territories have taken steps t
Page 72 and 73:
70 Table 5. Policies that affect th
Page 74 and 75:
In regions prone to drought or peri
Page 76 and 77:
simple as replacing light bulbs, po
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76 and industrial development. This
Page 80 and 81:
Government of Bermuda. 2007. Statem
Page 82:
Sheppard, C. and M. Spalding. 2003.
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Climate change in the UKOTs an overview of the ... - JNCC - Defra

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