I live in Vanuatu which a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) in the South Pacific. There are many climate change concerns here and the main ones are fear of sea level rise and more intense cyclones. Being an island most of the roads run alongside the coast and these roads are susceptible to storms sturges, wave overtopping and erosion due to wave action. All of these will get worse with sea level rise.

1. I live inVanuatuwhichaSmall IslandDevelopingState (SIDS)inthe SouthPacific.There are many
climate change concernshere andthe mainonesare fearof sealevel rise andmore intense
cyclones.Beinganislandmostof the roads run alongside the coastandthese roads are susceptible
to storms sturges,wave overtoppinganderosiondue towave action. All of these will getworse
withsealevel rise.
Thisregionof the Pacificexperiences2-3cyclones(alsoknownastyphoonsorhurricanes) eachyear.
Under climate change thisisexpectedtoincrease to3-5a yearand the intensitywill strengthen.
Thisis notan unrealsiticfear.InApril thisyear(2015) Vanuatuwashit bya Category5 storm ( the
strongest) causingmuchdamage toroads, buildingsandotherinfrastructure.
Ironicallysome of the worstdamagedbuildingswere communitycyclonecentreswhere peoplego
to shelter.
I wantto produce drawingsrepresentingwheredamage occurredandhow much. There are some
constraints. I thoughtof usingGoogle earthe butthisrequiresaninternetconnectionandsome of
the people Iwantto sendthisinformationtodonot have internet.Infactsome of themare without
electricity.AlsoIwantto be able to handthese drawingsaroundon a USB stickand not to have to
sendthemoverthe email.
I thoughtof usingPowerpointbutsome of myvillage friendsare notwell versedinitsuse.SoI have
producedthe attachedPDF file.Itcanbe openedandusedbyAdobe Acrobator Nitroor similarbut
NOT bya simple PDFreader.
The PDF file isa Layeredfile. Sowhenyouopenthe file please gotothe top lefthandside andclick
on “Layers”. If there are too manylayersopenmakingthe maplookclutteredclickonsome layers
to close them.
I use a color code systemto identifydamage.
RED meansmost urgentandrepairsneedednow
YELLOW meanssome temporaryrepairsalreadydone butmore workneeded
GREEN meansrepairsdone andinfrastructure fucntioning(fornow)
Roam yourmouse aroundoverthe boxesandsee themhighlightthe damagedareas.Insidethe
boxesare descriptionsof whathashappened.
THEN….. zome inusingCRTL + Mouse rollerwheeltosee photos. These are HighDefinitionphotosI
tookof remedial worksanddamage.Iembeddedtheminthe PDFfiles.
Thisis onlyforone of the 8 mainislandsbutitgivesa goodimpressionof the damage one cyclone
didto Vanuatuand showswhatwe can expectmore of inthe future asclimate change causesthe
situationtogetmuch worse.