"Ocean overflows"

“Global catastrophe plunges paradise into danger”

Ocean heatwaves occur twice as often as the long-term average, are more intense and last longer. In the picture: Tonga

(Bild: AFP)

The islanders in the western Pacific are particularly threatened by three effects of man-made climate change: rising sea levels, global warming and ocean acidification. 

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), they are more affected by the consequences of climate change than many other regions of the world, even though their own contribution to climate-damaging greenhouse gases is minimal.

Sea levels in parts of the region have risen by ten to 15 centimetres since 1993, almost twice as much as the global average, according to the WMO on the state of the climate in the Western Pacific region in 2023. The region includes parts of Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as well as island states in the Pacific, such as the Fiji Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga.

The surface temperature of the sea to the north-east of New Zealand and south of Australia rose by more than 0.4 degrees per decade between 1981 and 2023, three times the global average.

(Bild: AFP/AFP )

Fishing grounds and coral reefs under threat
Heatwaves in the ocean have since occurred twice as often as the long-term average, they are more intense and last longer. This threatens fishing grounds and coral reefs and promotes the growth of toxic algae.

In addition, the pH value in the oceans is falling in many places - in other words, they are acidifying because they are absorbing more climate-damaging CO2. This can destroy coral reefs, which protect the coasts from erosion, and also affect fish stocks.

The ocean is overflowing, and the reason is clear: greenhouse gases, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, are causing the planet to boil.

UNO-Generalsekretär António Guterres

According to measurements from the Aloha station in Hawaii, acidification increased by more than twelve percent between 1988 and 2020.

"The ocean is overflowing"
"A global catastrophe is plunging a paradise into danger," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. "The ocean is overflowing, and the reason is clear: greenhouse gases, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, are boiling the planet."

Rising sea levels are causing islands to lose coastal strips, and stronger and more frequent storms are flooding farmland and contaminating freshwater reserves with salt water, while acidification is reducing fishing yields.

Some island states fear that they will become uninhabitable. The island state of Kiribati, for example, has already bought land on the Fiji Islands in order to relocate its inhabitants.