Climate Change - Oceania

Oceania is a region made up of thousands of islands throughout the Central and South Pacific Ocean. 

It includes Australia, the smallest continent in terms of total land area.

Many of the nations in Oceania are Small Island Developing States (SIDS).


Many scientists say that Oceania is more vulnerable than most parts of the Earth to climate change, because of its climate and geography. 

The heavily coastal populations of the continent’s small islands are vulnerable to flooding and erosion because of sea level rise. 

An international team of researchers has produced this graph of ocean levels, for a period of time going back to around 500 BC. 

Fiji’s shoreline has been receding about 15 centimetres per year over the last 90 years.

Samoa has lost about half a metre per year during that same time span. 

 The global sea level graph is from this paper: 
"Temperature-driven global sea-level variability"

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