Climate change in the Hawaiian Islands

Abstract

In Hawai‘i, the seasonal and geographic distribution of rainfall and temperature has combined with steep, mountainous terrain to produce a wide array of island-scale climate regimes. These varying regimes in turn have supported the diversification of Hawai‘i native plants and animals. Increasing amounts of anthropogenic greenhouse gases will likely alter the archipelago’s terrestrial and marine environments by raising air and sea surface temperatures, changing the amount and distribution of precipitation, raising sea level, increasing ocean acidification, and exacerbating severe weather events.

Citation

Giardina, Christian; Hays, Frank; Jacobi, Jim; Kosaki, Randall; Mehrhoff, Loyal; Miller, Stephen. 2008. Climate change in the Hawaiian Islands. Honolulu, HI: Hawai'i Conservation Alliance. 4 p.