Long-range climate prediction help for Pacific islands.

The article reports that the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) have joined forces on a $3 million, three-year project to help 10 Pacific island countries improve their long-range climate predictions for planning in areas that may be affected by climate shift. The Pacific region comprises 22 small-island developing states and territories, many of which, like Tuvalu, are low-lying atolls with limited land space. These 22 low-lying islands are already susceptible to cyclones, storm surges, droughts and flooding, and scientists agree that global warming could result in such events happening more frequently and causing some islands to disappear altogether.