Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale, whose country was devastated by Cyclone Pam this week, warns that climate change is contributing to more extreme weather conditions.
Speaking at a United Nations conference in Sendai, Japan, on Monday, Lonsdale said that 90 percent of buildings in the country's capital city, Port Vila, had been damaged or destroyed by the Category 5 storm, which delivered winds up to 150 mph. “It’s a setback for the government and for the people of Vanuatu,” he said. Lonsdale said the cyclone seasons the nation experiences are directly linked to climate change.
“We see the level of sea rise. ... The cyclone seasons, the warm, the rain, all this is affected,” he said. “This year we have more than in any year, ... Yes, climate change is contributing to this. The U.N. conference was where Lonsdale focused on disaster risk reduction. Lonsdale’s statements were echoed by Anote Tong, president of nearby Kiribati, also affected by the storm.“There will be a time when the waters will not recede," he said. Earlier this month, Port Vila was named the city most exposed to natural disasters by risk analysis company Verisk Maplecroft.
Leaders of Pacific island nations have repeatedly called for action on climate change in recent years, attributing the rising sea levels and intensified storms that threaten their countries to global warming.
http://www.weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/cyclone-pam-vanuatu-climate-change
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