Climate change perceptions and preparation in the United States territories in the Pacific.

Abstract

The association between and among climate change, preparation, and perceptions on islands is becoming more commonplace―but what about on extraterritorial land governed from thousands of miles away? This article consists of on-the-ground fieldwork and interviews speaking with decision-makers and leadership personnel in American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on the following topics: how climate change is addressed, what the general attitude on-island is towards climate change, if islands’ proximities to independent countries affect the territories’ preparation, and if being a part of the United States is considered an asset in planning for climate change. The results from the study show that up until very recently, climate change was not readily discussed, and, when it had been, it was often only discussed with concern for ocean life. Additionally, respondents lamented that often their non-US neighbours were able to better prepare, but US territories were either outright excluded due to their tertiary sovereignties or due to lack of representation from the Federal Government at meetings. Research herein illustrates that being a territory of the United States was considered an asset in many respects due to the hypothetical protection and funding available in the event of major disaster. An emerging theme from the study is that the American territories in the Pacific sit within the margins and periphery of climate-change planning within the United States and are behind many of their neighbours in both their perceptions and preparation efforts of the effects of a changing climate.