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El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle related Disasters - Impacts upon Indigenous Communities
EnvironmentNatural Disasters:
Natural disasters are major adverse events resulting from natural processes of the earth. There are numerous types of natural disasters.
The main natural disasters which will be focused upon are droughts, cyclones, heat waves and wildfires as they directly relate to climate change and the ENSO cycle.
El Niño
El Niño is a climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean with a global impact on weather patterns.
The cycle begins when warm water in the western tropical Pacific Ocean shifts eastward along the equator toward the coast of South America. Normally, this warm water pools near Indonesia and the Philippines. During an El Niño, the Pacific's warmest surface waters sit offshore of north-western South America. Tropical storm locations often shift eastwards due to the warm water which fuels the storms.
There is an opposite of an El Niño which is called a La Niña. This refers to times when waters of the tropical eastern Pacific are colder than normal and trade winds blow more strongly than usual.
Collectively, El Niño and La Niña are parts of an oscillation in the ocean-atmosphere system called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO cycle, which also has a neutral phase.
How does this affect Indigenous communities across the pacific?
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment concluded that certain groups of people are at risk from climate change (IPCC 2007). In regard to Australia, inequalities exist between classes, ethnicities, gender, age groups and places. People of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent in particular, face ongoing inequality which has gradually decreased and is improving. However, the persistence of widespread inequity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people is an area of major concern in the text of changing climate conditions, with Indigenous peoples identified as particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts. This effect is most likely the same on Indigenous groups all around the world.
This change in climate, due to the ENSO cycle forces warmer water to move eastward. This creates more atmospheric moisture in eastern parts of the pacific due to the increased evaporation. This can create strong natural disasters such as storms and cyclones which cause immense damage to the land. These tropical storms affect countries like Tuvalu, Palau and the Philippines etc. Indigenous groups from all around the Pacific islands and Australia have their homes and habitats destroyed by tropical storms. Letila Mitchell, an Indigenous Fijian speaks about their troubles after Cyclone Winston, "We can never predict when mangoes are going to come out. We can no longer predict when particular fish are going to be coming through the waters. For us it is about adapting to a climate that has changed already." In addition to having their homes destroyed, their natural food resources are also being affected and are becoming unpredictable and difficult to cultivate.
On the other end of the scale in western areas during an El Niño, the lack of atmospheric moisture causes droughts. These droughts kill livestock and plants which Indigenous groups feed off of. Furthermore, it promotes the growth of weeds and pest plants which can survive on low water for example the Garden geranium (Pelargonium alchemilloides) in Australia. These weeds end up restricting growth and killing native plants by soaking up all of the available ground water.
These effects are reciprocated between the Eastern and Western parts during a La Niña.
El Niño cycles are a large factor that negatively affects Indigenous groups around the Pacific, however scientists are still not sure what is the cause. Most put the blame on climate change.
As well as this, there many other factors in Earth’s natural processes which are causing the Earth’s climate to change dramatically. The main effects are rising atmospheric and sea temperatures. These hot temperatures cause heatwaves and wildfires in areas of the pacific. Heatwaves have similar flow-on effects as droughts however they generally only refer to hot temperatures and not exactly water shortages. Many people including Indigenous groups are killed by hyperthermia during a heatwave or are killed in bushfires/wildfires. Even if no one is killed, these bushfires and extreme temperatures dry out vegetation and kill off food resources, exactly the same as droughts.
Responding to Climate Change
Climate change poses a large threat to the survival of Indigenous communities worldwide, even though Indigenous people contribute little to greenhouse emissions. “In fact, indigenous peoples are vital to, and active in, the many ecosystems that inhabit their lands and territories, and may therefore help enhance the resilience of these ecosystems. In addition, indigenous peoples interpret and react to the impacts of climate change in creative ways, drawing on traditional knowledge and other technologies to find solutions which may help society at large to cope with impending changes” according to the United Nations. There are resources such as the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Plan for Indigenous Communities created by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF). The Indigenous Communities NARP identifies what information is needed to increase understanding of climate change adaptation for Australia’s Indigenous communities. It outlines research priorities that will inform decisions about adapting to climate change to produce effective, efficient and equitable strategies and outcomes. This Plan will guide governments and other investors over the next five years to fund research to deliver maximum benefit to Indigenous communities, and provide a broad framework for longer term research planning. See attached 2011 and 2012 Indigenous NARP. It is entirely based around aid and collaboration between non-Indigenous and Indigenous societies to reduce Indigenous societies susceptibility and increase resilience to climate change impacts.
BY BRENDAN RIDEP-MORRIS AND RHYS SIMPSON (Australia)
Related information found from:
http://reliefweb.int/disaster/dr-2015-000127-fji
https://www.livescience.com/3650-el-nino.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-14/impact-of-climate-change-on-indigenous-communities/7289604
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_wave
http://www.un.org/en/events/indigenousday/pdf/Backgrounder_ClimateChange_FINAL.pdf
https://www.nccarf.edu.au/publications/climate-change-adaptation-indigenous-communities-overview
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WarmPool/
