American researchers say there is less time than previously thought to try and address the effects of climate change.
The 4th US National Climate Assessment, released at the weekend, is the federally sanctioned work of about 300 academics and experts on the threat posed to the US by climate change.
The assessment devotes a chapter to the US Pacific and Zena Grecni, from the Honolulu based East-West Center, says it means compromised freshwater systems, the destruction of coastal infrastructure and coral reefs, and greater stresses on the region's biodiversity.
She says in the four years since the last report the threats from climate change have increased substantially.
Flooding caused by huge spring tides which Marshall Islands officials have blamed on climate change. Photo: AFP
