In a harsh display of irony the South Pacific island of Vanuatu has declared a state of emergency after being hit by the devastating force of Cyclone Pam; while its President is unable to get back to the island from Japan where he is attending the UN’s international disaster risk reduction conference.
In a harsh display of irony the South Pacific island of Vanuatu has declared a state of emergency after being hit by the devastating force of Cyclone Pam; while its President is unable to get back to the island from Japan where he is attending the UN’s international disaster risk reduction conference. This latest tragic reminder of nature’s unpredictable might, which has claimed multiple lives, has been blamed firmly on climate change by Vanuatu president Baldwin Lonsdale who says that cyclones in March have always been rare but have happened for the last three years. The country’s minister for climate change and natural disasters James Bule shares the president’s fears: “There has certainly been a change in weather patterns in recent years. At the moment in Vanuatu it is unusually hot and humid for this time of the year. We are also seeing the effects of rising sea levels in the form of coastal erosion.”
