Māori environmental knowledge of local weather and climate change in Aotearoa – New Zealand

King, Darren N.; Skipper, A.; Tawhai, W. B.

doi:10.1007/s10584-007-9372-y

Cited by 78 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Despite the foundation of scholarship in this area and the rich systems of ILK in the Pacific, the significance of customary seasonal calendars to understanding social-ecological effects of climate change has only been described in a handful of cases, with a large representation from Aboriginal Australians, including the Miriwoong people from East Kimberly (Leonard et al 2013), Walpiri from central Australia, Martu from northwestern Australia, and others (Prober et al 2011), and Torres Strait Islanders (Green et al 2010). We are aware of only two published studies with Pacific Islanders: Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, a Māori tribal group in Aotearoa (King et al 2008) and Samoans (Lefale 2010), and an in-progress project in Kaʻūpūlehu, Hawaiʻi. Although research on the topic is still emergent, the value of seasonal calendars is realized in the applied world.…”

Section: Seasonal Calendarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small islands, valuable insights: systems of customary resource use and resilience to climate change in the Pacific

McMillen¹,

Ticktin²,

Friedlander³

et al. 2014

E&S

143

130

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ABSTRACT. Understanding how social-ecological systems are and can be resilient to climate change is one of the world's most crucial problems today. It requires knowledge at local and global scales, the integration of natural and social sciences, and a focus on biocultural diversity. Small Pacific Islands and the knowledge-practice-belief systems of their peoples have a long history of resilience to environmental variability and unpredictability, including in areas with marginal habitats and with periodic, severe disturbance (e.g., drought, flood, storms, and tsunami). We review the state of research on these knowledge systems as it pertains to resilience and adaptation, and we highlight critical research needs to address the interrelated areas of: (1) local-scale expertise and observations of change with regard to weather, life-history cycles, and ecological processes; (2) customary resource management institutions and practices (i.e., with agroforests and the nearshore marine environment); and (3) the roles of leaders, social institutions, and social networks in the context of disturbance and change. We conclude that these knowledge systems can contribute high-resolution observations, benchmark data, and insights into practices that enhance resilience and adaptive capacity in integrated terrestrial and marine systems. Community-based and participatory approaches can complement and ground-truth climate models and direct culturally appropriate resource management, research, and adaptation measures. Although most islands in the Pacific are small, their knowledge systems include valuable insights on seasonal cycles, ecological processes, and the management of biocultural diversity that are relevant at a broad scale for understanding resilience and adaptability to the social-ecological effects of climate change.

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Section: Seasonal Calendarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small islands, valuable insights: systems of customary resource use and resilience to climate change in the Pacific

McMillen¹,

Ticktin²,

Friedlander³

et al. 2014

E&S

143

130

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“…10 The scientific community is beginning to pay more attention to the value of traditional environmental knowledge and this information is included here in that light. See King et al (2008) and Lefale (2010) as examples of the work being done in this area of research in the Pacific. 11 See http://www.niwa.co.nz/our-science/pacific-rim/ news/featured/tropical-cyclone-outlook-normal2/ background-information-for-meteorological-services regarding the analog methodology employed here.…”

Section: (Ii) South Indian Ocean-k L Gleason and M C Krukmentioning

confidence: 99%

State of the Climate in 2010

Blunden

Arndt

Baringer

2011

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

139

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Several large-scale climate patterns influenced climate conditions and weather patterns across the globe during 2010. The transition from a warm El Niño phase at the beginning of the year to a cool La Niña phase by July contributed to many notable events, ranging from record wetness across much of Australia to historically low Eastern Pacific basin and near-record high North Atlantic basin hurricane activity. The remaining five main hurricane basins experienced below- to well-below-normal tropical cyclone activity. The negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation was a major driver of Northern Hemisphere temperature patterns during 2009/10 winter and again in late 2010. It contributed to record snowfall and unusually low temperatures over much of northern Eurasia and parts of the United States, while bringing above-normal temperatures to the high northern latitudes. The February Arctic Oscillation Index value was the most negative since records began in 1950. The 2010 average global land and ocean surface temperature was among the two warmest years on record. The Arctic continued to warm at about twice the rate of lower latitudes. The eastern and tropical Pacific Ocean cooled about 1°C from 2009 to 2010, reflecting the transition from the 2009/10 El Niño to the 2010/11 La Niña. Ocean heat fluxes contributed to warm sea surface temperature anomalies in the North Atlantic and the tropical Indian and western Pacific Oceans. Global integrals of upper ocean heat content for the past several years have reached values consistently higher than for all prior times in the record, demonstrating the dominant role of the ocean in the Earth's energy budget. Deep and abyssal waters of Antarctic origin have also trended warmer on average since the early 1990s. Lower tropospheric temperatures typically lag ENSO surface fluctuations by two to four months, thus the 2010 temperature was dominated by the warm phase El Niño conditions that occurred during the latter half of 2009 and early 2010 and was second warmest on record. The stratosphere continued to be anomalously cool. Annual global precipitation over land areas was about five percent above normal. Precipitation over the ocean was drier than normal after a wet year in 2009. Overall, saltier (higher evaporation) regions of the ocean surface continue to be anomalously salty, and fresher (higher precipitation) regions continue to be anomalously fresh. This salinity pattern, which has held since at least 2004, suggests an increase in the hydrological cycle. Sea ice conditions in the Arctic were significantly different than those in the Antarctic during the year. The annual minimum ice extent in the Arctic—reached in September—was the third lowest on record since 1979. In the Antarctic, zonally averaged sea ice extent reached an all-time record maximum from mid-June through late August and again from mid-November through early December. Corresponding record positive Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode Indices influenced the Antarctic sea ice extents. Greenland glaciers lost more mass than any other year in the decade-long record. The Greenland Ice Sheet lost a record amount of mass, as the melt rate was the highest since at least 1958, and the area and duration of the melting was greater than any year since at least 1978. High summer air temperatures and a longer melt season also caused a continued increase in the rate of ice mass loss from small glaciers and ice caps in the Canadian Arctic. Coastal sites in Alaska show continuous permafrost warming and sites in Alaska, Canada, and Russia indicate more significant warming in relatively cold permafrost than in warm permafrost in the same geographical area. With regional differences, permafrost temperatures are now up to 2°C warmer than they were 20 to 30 years ago. Preliminary data indicate there is a high probability that 2010 will be the 20th consecutive year that alpine glaciers have lost mass. Atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations continued to rise and ozone depleting substances continued to decrease. Carbon dioxide increased by 2.60 ppm in 2010, a rate above both the 2009 and the 1980–2010 average rates. The global ocean carbon dioxide uptake for the 2009 transition period from La Niña to El Niño conditions, the most recent period for which analyzed data are available, is estimated to be similar to the long-term average. The 2010 Antarctic ozone hole was among the lowest 20% compared with other years since 1990, a result of warmer-than-average temperatures in the Antarctic stratosphere during austral winter between mid-July and early September.

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“…In addition, whilst not always directly focused on ecosystems per se, yet nonetheless covering aspects of ecosystems, there are large numbers of case studies outlining use of local knowledge to address climate change impacts such as in Samoa [50], Kenya [51], Uganda [52], New Zealand [53], Mongolia [54], India [55] and Mexico [56]. The SIDS-specific case studies which directly invoke EbA are mostly found within reports from conservation organisations with IUCN, The Nature Conservancy, BirdLife International, Conservation International and WWF being key advocates of EbA for the Caribbean [11].…”

Section: Methodsologies For Combining Knowledge Forms For Ebamentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem-Based Adaptation to Climate Change in Caribbean Small Island Developing States: Integrating Local and External Knowledge

Mercer¹,

et al. 2012

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Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are vulnerable to climate change impacts including sea level rise, invasive species, ocean acidification, changes in rainfall patterns, increased temperatures, and changing hazard regimes including hurricanes, floods and drought. Given high dependencies in Caribbean SIDS on natural resources for livelihoods, a focus on ecosystems and their interaction with people is essential for climate change adaptation. Increasingly, ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approaches are being highlighted as an approach to address climate change impacts.

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Māori environmental knowledge of local weather and climate change in Aotearoa – New Zealand

Cited by 78 publications

References 13 publications

Small islands, valuable insights: systems of customary resource use and resilience to climate change in the Pacific

Small islands, valuable insights: systems of customary resource use and resilience to climate change in the Pacific

State of the Climate in 2010

Ecosystem-Based Adaptation to Climate Change in Caribbean Small Island Developing States: Integrating Local and External Knowledge

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