Pacific leaders link monster storms to climate change

Transcript

There are renewed calls by Pacific leaders for developed countries to take meaningful action on climate change, following the devastation caused by Cyclone Pam.

Pam ripped through Vanuatu just over a week ago, causing widespread destruction that observers fear will set the country's economic growth back decades.

The cyclone also displaced nearly half of Tuvalu's population and severely flooded Kiribati.

Johnny Blades has more:

Vanuatu's President Baldwin Lonsdale blamed climate change for the category five cyclone which devastated his nation. In an emotional appeal to the international community, he said that weather patterns in Vanuatu had changed.

BALDWIN LONSDALE: We can look at the rainy season this year. The rainfall is more than has been happening in the past. We are an independent nation and the government has priorities for the development of the nation. But when there is a disaster that is beyond our capacity, that is beyond our financial means, then the whole international community should stand together as one.

James Renwick from Victoria University's School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences says there is a link between climate change and extreme storms like Pam. Dr Renwick says greater severity of weather is consistent with factors such as increased moisture in the atmosphere and warmer seas.

JAMES RENWICK: There's no actual sign of an increase in the numbers of tropical cyclones in the Pacific, but in a lot of ways climate change is making these events more extreme: extreme storm surge, extreme rainfall, extreme winds and so on.

Dr Renwick says extremes in both directions of the rainfall spectrum are increasing in the Pacific - more rain during the heavy rain spells, and longer droughts. King tides are now also more of a problem for low-lying Pacific islands, due to sea-level rise.

JAMES RENWICK: The average sea level has gone up significantly in the western Pacific in the last 50 to 100 years and, again, that's the average season. When you have a king tide, and you're starting from a higher base -- so the high tide goes up that much higher -- and because beaches are relatively flat in many places, a small vertical rise can translate to a long distance horizontally, waves can travel a lot inland with just a quarter to half a metre of sea level rise.

The Premier of Niue, Toke Talagi, says Pacific Island leaders are tiring of going to international fora and calling for meaningful action on reducing carbon emissions.

TOKE TALAGI: We keep talking and talking about climate change. We keep talking about actions on climate change. But the consequences to the in action is what's happened in Vanuatu, in Tuvalu and in Kiribati.

Mr Talagi says it's a pity that while there's so much attention on the impacts of extreme weather, developed countries haven't taken sufficient action to mitigate climate change in the coming decades. Instead, he says, the impacts are going to get worse.