Climate Change and Sea Level Rise in Asia: Singapore

Flickr: nathanhayag

By PISA Program Assistant, Dr. Miriam Grinberg

With a population of over 5 million in a country smaller than New York City, Singapore boasts the seventh-largest gross domestic product per capita in the world. The country’s wealth suggests that it has the financial capacity to combat the effects of climate change (unlike previous countries highlighted in this series) and reduce its carbon footprint. Moreover, given the fact that Singapore lies only 15 meters above sea level on average – and that mean sea level in the surrounding Straits has risen at about 1.2 to 1.7 mm per year between 1975 and 2009 – ignoring the consequences of climate change could prove perilous.

Climate Change and Sea Level Rise in Asia: Myanmar

By PISA Program Assistant, Dr. Miriam Grinberg

Following Myanmar Ambassador Aung Lynn’s visit to the Elliott School of International Affairs on Monday, December 12, PISA provides critical background information on the country through our blog. Previously, we discussed the country’s challenges in natural resource governance and the continued consequences of the Cold War. This post concludes the series with a focus on the impact of sea level rise and climate change on Myanmar’s future.

In my previous post’s overview of the difficulties that Burmese policymakers face in managing and distributing natural resources equitably, I noted that Myanmar is well-known for its rich biodiversity and wealth of resources, such as natural gas and jade. As the country continues to undergo political and economic transformation – including the development of its energy and industry sectors, urban areas, and agricultural production – the sustainability of its new enterprises has increasingly come into question, not to mention their environmental impact. Combined with its geographical location (sandwiched between two of the world’s largest polluters, China and India), it is no wonder that the country was recently called the second most vulnerable in the world to the impacts of climate change.

Climate Change and Sea Level Rise in Asia: Indonesia

By PISA Program Assistant, Dr. Miriam Grinberg

As in Vietnam, Indonesia – the biggest economy in Southeast Asia – is growing at a steady pace year after year, with 15% of its GDP resting on the back of its agricultural sector. In fact, over 44% of Indonesian laborers are employed in this sector, and whether in rice production or fishing, all are feeling the impact of climate change — including creeping sea level rise.

Climate Change and Sea Level Rise in Asia: Vietnam

By PISA Program Assistant, Dr. Miriam Grinberg

As one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, Vietnam – with a growth rate of about 7 percent this past year – has witnessed remarkable improvements in its total gross domestic product (GDP), industrial output, and per capita income (from $260 in 1995 to $1685 in 2015) in the last few decades. Moreover, where Vietnam had previously been a net importer of rice, it is now the second largest exporter in the world after Thailand, with two-thirds of its rural labor employed in rice production.

Ready-Set-Hike! US Athletes Adapting to Climate Change

By: Andrew Parker, Program Associate, PISA

Edited by: Suzanne Kelly-Lyall, PISA

US high school football players on the field

The US is often perceived to be indifferent to climate change while the rest of the world is working hard to adapt and mitigate climate impacts, one concrete example of climate change having real repercussions on the daily lives of Americans is found in sports. Specifically, in that most American of all sports, football.  Visit any small town in the US in August and you will find football players on the field practicing for the upcoming season – increasingly, in extreme heat.  As a result, there has been a marked increase in heat-related deaths among young football players.  Each year between 1994 and 2009 three students died from heat-related causes according to a study cited in the Scientific American article.

Only The Sound of Silence after Stormy Weather….

By: Suzanne Kelly-Lyall

When the immortal Billy Holliday sang; Stormy Weather in 1953, she couldn’t have known that the record June temperatures of June 1933, the year Harold Arlen and Ted Koheler wrote that hit, would not be seen again until 2012.  Blistering temperatures across the lower 48 states of the US captured daily headlines with power outages in the nation’s capital and scorching temperatures that threatened US crops across the mid-west, yet you’d be hard pressed to hear the phrase climate change uttered, even in whispers.

Asia Leading in Climate Adaptation…

Amidst the record flooding in Bangkok last fall, the Asia Pacific Climate Adaptation Forum was cancelled. Now, only five months later, no sign of the flooding was present and UNEP’s Second Annual Asia Pacific Climate Adaptation Forum was in full swing. The irony of having to cancel the regions most important gathering on climate change adaptation was not lost on anyone at the Forum. The themes of climate adaptation, urban resilience, and disaster risk management featured heavily in panel presentations.