Historical Hazards
With approximately 1,500km of coastline, Palau's main vulnerabilities involve coastal and marine areas. These include extreme high tides, coastal erosion, seal-level rise, increase in drought and storm activity, increase sea-surface temperature and coral bleaching, all of which related to climate change (IISD, 2011). Like other Pacific Island states, this vulnerability is exacerbated by its geographical remoteness and isolation (World Bank). Palau is particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise and an increase in extreme weather events such as storm surges, given that the majority of its population, infrastructure and cultural sites are in coastal areas. Furthermore, it is vulnerable to long dry spells resulting from El Nino South Oscillation (ENSO).
This section provides a summary of key natural hazards and their associated socioeconomic impacts in a given country. It allows for a quick evaluation of most vulnerable areas through the spatial comparison of natural hazard data with development data, thereby identifying exposed livelihoods and natural systems.
The charts provide overview of the most frequent natural disaster in a given country and understand the impacts of those disasters on human populations.
Metadata
Climate change is now recognized to have a significant impact on disaster management efforts and pose a significant threat to the efforts to meet the growing needs of the most vulnerable populations. The demands of disaster risk management are such that concise, clear, and reliable information is crucial. The information presented here offers insight into the frequency, impact and occurrence of natural hazards. Source (PDF)