MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands prepares for climate change, which is arriving with much less rainfall

MLA Biggs said there was a lack of long-term climate data across the Islands which has been a limiting factor in understanding the impact of climate change

At the Legislative Assembly last week MLA Peter Biggs was invited to outline steps “the government and country had taken to coordinate a plan for climate action and assess and react our ocean needs, and landowners most pressing concern - our drying climate?”

 He noted that a “temporary climate change officer post” had been created to identify and respond to risks that the Islands face due to climate change. This included short-term actions and laying the foundations for adapting to long-term changes”.

He cautioned climate change was a long-term, pervasive and complex problem, “so it’s important not just to focus on quick-fixes and short-term actions, but to build resilience into our local ecosystems, society and economy, which takes careful planning, consideration and input from multiple stakeholders.”

MLA Biggs said there was a lack of long-term climate data across the Islands which has been a limiting factor in understanding the extent of the impact of climate change and in preparing early responses in reaction to, for example, early warning of dry periods.

A monitoring network of automatic weather stations is in the final stages of design, with installation of devices across the country expected during winter.

He said this would allow the collection and sharing of weather data in various locations across the Islands, which would not only support the understanding of the variety of weather experienced in these different locations, but would also support future climate analysis to allow early prediction and warning systems and would aid understanding when making decisions related to adaptation action.

It will allow for early warning systems of periods of reduced rainfall and subsequent water availability, which will assist in mitigating the effects of reduced rainfall events, and in future help to give people across the Islands more advanced warning to prepare for dry periods. (Penguin News)