210
R. Gard
changes driven by the ice-ocean mass exchange that all influence and exacerbate
sea level in regional areas (Farrell and Clark 1976; Mitrovica et al. 2001: 1026–
1029; Mitrovica et al. 2009: 753). Ultimately, this results in uneven rises and falls
in overall sea level rise, with some areas experiencing an amplified rise, especially
in the equatorial regions of the Pacific (Milne et al. 2009). While these processes
have occurred for millennia, humans have affected sea level rise via direct means
of manipulation of ground and surface water flows and indirectly through greenhouse gas emissions that increase global temperatures (NOAA 2019). These warmer
temperatures impact the mass and volume of seawater through increased terrestrial
ice melt and warmed ocean temperatures, both of which compound rising global sea
levels.
The Consequences of Climate Change—Fiji as an Exemplar
In early February 2016, in the two weeks preceding the Category Five Tropical
Cyclone Winston, thousands of dead fish washed up on the Coral Coast of Fiji,
which stretches from Suva to Sigatoka. According to a local marine ecologist, the
“fish kills” were a result of the unusually high ocean temperatures of ~35º Celsius
in the shallower reef areas along the Coral Coast (Gard 2016, np). The Ministry of
Fisheries and Forests issued a warning “advis[ing] people living in villages along the
Korolevu to Namada coastline to refrain from eating any dead fish along their coasts
as they may be harmful to human health.” This warning was issued following some
villagers falling ill and then being hospitalised after eating the fish (Gard 2016, np).
The Fijian Government instructed citizens to gather the dead fish into piles and burn
them, then bury or dispose of the remains. In visiting the beach in the days after the
fish kills, the stench of dead fish remained and I had a feeling of having passed into a
post-apocalyptic world. As someone who has spent most of their life near the Pacific
Ocean, this experience was one of the most surreal and deeply disturbing of not just
my fieldwork to date, but my life.
Coinciding with the heat wave and fish kills was a coral bleaching event where the
thermal stress of the high oceanic temperatures caused the coral to lose its symbiotic
algae that live inside its calcium carbonate skeleton. Consequently, the coral turned
pale, leaving ghostly white sections of reef. Local experts cited the “calm seas and
clear skies [as causes for the]… seawater temps on the nearshore reefs to have heated
up to 35–36 C + during low tides, causing corals in these nearshore lagoon areas to
become severely bleached over the last week and many have already died. Corals in
deeper areas are now also showing signs of heat stress as mean seawater temperature
starts to exceed 30C” (Gard 2016, np). It was a troubling time and as I spoke with
friends, colleagues at the University of the South Pacific (USP) and locals at the
beach regarding the fish kills and bleaching event, everyone agreed that they had
never seen anything like it before.
R. Gard
changes driven by the ice-ocean mass exchange that all influence and exacerbate
sea level in regional areas (Farrell and Clark 1976; Mitrovica et al. 2001: 1026–
1029; Mitrovica et al. 2009: 753). Ultimately, this results in uneven rises and falls
in overall sea level rise, with some areas experiencing an amplified rise, especially
in the equatorial regions of the Pacific (Milne et al. 2009). While these processes
have occurred for millennia, humans have affected sea level rise via direct means
of manipulation of ground and surface water flows and indirectly through greenhouse gas emissions that increase global temperatures (NOAA 2019). These warmer
temperatures impact the mass and volume of seawater through increased terrestrial
ice melt and warmed ocean temperatures, both of which compound rising global sea
levels.
The Consequences of Climate Change—Fiji as an Exemplar
In early February 2016, in the two weeks preceding the Category Five Tropical
Cyclone Winston, thousands of dead fish washed up on the Coral Coast of Fiji,
which stretches from Suva to Sigatoka. According to a local marine ecologist, the
“fish kills” were a result of the unusually high ocean temperatures of ~35º Celsius
in the shallower reef areas along the Coral Coast (Gard 2016, np). The Ministry of
Fisheries and Forests issued a warning “advis[ing] people living in villages along the
Korolevu to Namada coastline to refrain from eating any dead fish along their coasts
as they may be harmful to human health.” This warning was issued following some
villagers falling ill and then being hospitalised after eating the fish (Gard 2016, np).
The Fijian Government instructed citizens to gather the dead fish into piles and burn
them, then bury or dispose of the remains. In visiting the beach in the days after the
fish kills, the stench of dead fish remained and I had a feeling of having passed into a
post-apocalyptic world. As someone who has spent most of their life near the Pacific
Ocean, this experience was one of the most surreal and deeply disturbing of not just
my fieldwork to date, but my life.
Coinciding with the heat wave and fish kills was a coral bleaching event where the
thermal stress of the high oceanic temperatures caused the coral to lose its symbiotic
algae that live inside its calcium carbonate skeleton. Consequently, the coral turned
pale, leaving ghostly white sections of reef. Local experts cited the “calm seas and
clear skies [as causes for the]… seawater temps on the nearshore reefs to have heated
up to 35–36 C + during low tides, causing corals in these nearshore lagoon areas to
become severely bleached over the last week and many have already died. Corals in
deeper areas are now also showing signs of heat stress as mean seawater temperature
starts to exceed 30C” (Gard 2016, np). It was a troubling time and as I spoke with
friends, colleagues at the University of the South Pacific (USP) and locals at the
beach regarding the fish kills and bleaching event, everyone agreed that they had
never seen anything like it before.