Drought Impacts and Management in Hawai'i and the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands: A Multi-Sector Synthesis
Abstract
Drought is a significant climate feature in Hawai'i and the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI), at times causing severe impacts across multiple sectors. Severe droughts have shaped management plans and affected the management of water resources, wildfire, invasive species, and agriculture. This study synthesizes the state of the knowledge on drought in Hawai'i and the USAPI for the five types of drought: meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, ecological, and socioeconomic. We also examine management actions before, during, and after drought, and include case studies of past droughts. The most severe drought events are typically associated with El Niño events, and these events are extremely important for forecasting drought in the tropical Pacific. Actions that resource managers can take include improving water infrastructure and conservation through expansion and addition of reservoirs, reducing fuels for wildfire and establishing/maintaining fuel breaks, increasing education and outreach efforts, targeting water-demanding invasive species for removal, ensuring that pastures are well-managed and soil cover is maintained even during drought, and using traditional knowledge to inform response actions.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.H42C..08F
- Keywords:
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- 1812 Drought;
- HYDROLOGYDE: 1817 Extreme events;
- HYDROLOGYDE: 1834 Human impacts;
- HYDROLOGYDE: 1843 Land/atmosphere interactions;
- HYDROLOGYDE: 4327 Resilience;
- NATURAL HAZARDSDE: 4328 Risk;
- NATURAL HAZARDSDE: 4928 Global climate models;
- PALEOCEANOGRAPHY