Study of Low-Lying Areas Vulnerable to Sea Level Rise

The pdf. offered here is an open source ebook in which we (Damon and Mondragón) present a summary version of a paper containing two exemplary case studies about indigenous adaptability to environmental change in Island Melanesia (see pages 59-60 and after in this volume). Our data are to be published as separate, extended chapters in an upcoming collective volume, also edited by UNESCO, to be published by Cambridge University Press. Both in the very summary version offered within the .pdf for download here, and in our forthcoming chapters, we (Mondragon and Damon) draw on extensive experience of local environmental knowledge and short- and long-term fluctuations in two small Pacific Islands’ societies, namely the island of Muyuw, on the northern side of the Kula ring (maritime Papua New Guinea), and the Torres Islands, in the north of Vanuatu. We offer a critical assessment of the contemporary state of human-environmental relations in these communities, with special attention to sea level rise and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), in view of these being signature issues within climate change discussions in Pacific Islands. We place these topics within the framework of primary food production systems and local forms of guardianship and exploitation of forest and marine resources. Throughout, our focus is on these communities’ reactions to observed climatic and geological fluctuations over the past two decades: in the first case, in relation to the human modification of forest resources in Muyuw, while the second case focuses on the shoreline dynamics provoked by sudden and extreme sea level fluctuations as a consequence of seismic activity in Vanuatu. We argue that the observed effects of these processes offer valuable data regarding the specifics of human adaptation to climate change in small islands’ contexts. One of our key arguments is that mid and long term environmental fluctuations have long been a part of Melanesian engagements with the physical world, and have consequently given rise to coping strategies that are inherent to traditional knowledge practices. We also seek to emphasize that the geomorphology of the Melanesian islands –which tend to be small land masses that are often graced with multifarious soil types and forest and marine resources– already possesses degrees of ecological adaptability which appear to be absent from other idiosyncratic Pacific Islands’ contexts, most notably those of the low-lying atolls proper to Micronesia and Polynesia, which are often taken as exemplary of all small islands around the world. It follows that assessments of climate adaptation across much of the Western Pacific, and indeed large parts of Island Southeast Asia, must be approached and understood in ways that are sensitive to the local differences between these environments and those of insular societies in the Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Research dissertation presented for the approval of Senate in fulfilment of part of the requirements for the LLM (Marine and Environmental) in approved courses and a minor dissertation. The other part of the requirement for this qualification was the completion of a programme of courses.

My draft notes for the Environmental Audit Committee's oral discussions on 5th April 2017 at the Houses of Parliament without references given here. The oral session draft was published on 28th April 2017 with the final text still in reviews to include important additional items omitted on the draft text. The full text will have soon all the necessary references. Due to this text being a draft the text and images appear unaligned with the text due to it being draft for the session on 5th April. However, the Parliament decided nevertheless to publish this semi-complete version. More up-to-date text (.docx format) is on Drafts section. It has been receiving reviews and I will publish the final text separately once all the external input has been duly received and processed.

In The International Legal Status and Protection of Environmentally-Displaced Persons: A European Perspective, Hélène Ragheboom addresses the topical issue of displacement caused by environmental factors and analyses in particular whether affected persons, who are unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin due to the severe degradation of their living environment, could or, in the negative, should receive some form of international protection within the European Union. The author provides a detailed analysis of relevant instruments of refugee law and international human rights law, and explores possible future approaches to addressing the phenomenon of environmental displacement, ranging from constructive interpretations of existing norms to the allegedly preferable creation of a multidisciplinary sui generis framework.

Coastal archaeological resources around the world often coincide with dense contemporary human populations and a rapidly changing physical environment. Projected sea level rise and urban expansion during the 21st century threaten to destroy much of our global coastal archaeological heritage. In this study, we adapt an environmental vulnerability analysis to quantify the threats of modern development and sea level rise on archaeological sites in California’s Santa Barbara Channel region. Using spatial and statistical techniques, we create a Cultural Resource Vulnerability Index that combines environmental factors, current and projected urban footprints, and archaeological site positioning. We illustrate the importance of this method for targeting threatened archaeological sites for mitigation and salvage research. In the process, we highlight the significance of coastal archaeological sites for helping better understand contemporary environmental and cultural issues, underscoring the need to preserve or salvage these sites for their significant research value.

The Somerset Levels are valleys infilled with thick sequences of Quaternary sediments. The Holocene sequence is referred to as the Somerset Levels Formation and may be subdivided into lower, middle and upper units, defined by their silty-clay, peat, and silty-clay lithologies respectively. These subunits are here called the North Yeo member, Nyland Hill Peat Member, and the Nyland Hill Clay Member to conform with international nomenclature procedures. This sequence has been investigated in the Axe Valley, especially around Nyland Hill, and records changing palaeoenvironments from estuarine, through freshwater, terrestrial, then returning to estuarine conditions. The Axe Valley Levels were first reclaimed during the Roman Period and a relict landscape of significant palaeochannels exist.

In GIF format, the Shivaji Competition seeks actual and impossible ideas to maintain human habitation on islands and deltas doomed by the predicted sea level rise of at least one meter in the 21st century.  All entries will be submitted as animated GIFs for social media broadcast and museum exhibition.  One finalist will be selected to participate in the Rising Waters Confab 2016 to be held on Captiva Island, Florida, USA in May, 2016.  Roundtrip transportation provided.  Visit Shivaji2016.com.  All entries due on March 10, 2016.  Free to enter.