Environmental impacts on Guam's water security and sustainable management of the resource

Abstract

Impacts of climate change on the already severely strained freshwater resources of approximately 1000 inhabited islands in the Pacific Ocean are of great concern. The Western Pacific region is one of the world's most vulnerable when it comes to risk of disaster particularly for the several of the low-lying coral islands. Impacts have already been felt regarding the security of water resources that would directly impact agriculture, forestry, tourism and other industry-related sectors. The ironic and tragic aspect of the environmental crisis of greenhouse emissions is the fact that those parts of the world least responsible for creating the water security issues are the first to suffer its consequences. Pacific Island Nations are responsible for only 0.03 percent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions, and the average island resident produces only one-quarter of the emissions of the average person worldwide. Utilizing the historical data, the evidence of change in water quality and access on Guam has been examined. All indicators except for the precipitation support the hypotheses that climate change trends are impacting Guam's water security. This will eventually weaken Guam's resilience. As a result of this research and its recommendations, a sustainable freshwater resources management plan, for a water-secured Guam can be produced. Adaptive management provided here is based on a process that can measure the resilience of Guam to the issue of water security.