Explore historical and projected climate data, climate data by sector, impacts, key vulnerabilities and what adaptation measures are being taken. Explore the overview for a general context of how climate change is affecting Papua New Guinea.
This page presents high-level information for Papua New Guinea's climate zones and its seasonal cycle for mean temperature and precipitation for the latest climatology, 1991-2020. Climate zone classifications in the map below use observed, historical data (sourced from the Climate Research Unit [CRU]) and are derived by applying the Köppen-Geiger climate classification methodology. This classification divides climate into five primary climate groups, which are divided based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The five primary groups are A (tropical), B (dry), C (temperate), D (continental), and E (polar). All climates, except for those in the E group are assigned a seasonal precipitation sub-group (second letter). It is important to understand the different climate contexts that exist within a country as well as the surrounding region when analyzing current climates and projected change. Climate classifications are identified by hovering your mouse over the legend. A narrative overview of Papua New Guinea's country context and climate is provided following the visualizations.
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Papua New Guinea is an island country in the South Pacific Region and occupies the eastern half of the West Pacific island of New Guinea, together with the main islands of New Britain, New Ireland, and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, as well as another 600 smaller islands and atolls. It shares the international land border with Indonesia to the west, and the maritime borders with Australia to the south, the Solomon Islands to the east, and the Federal State of Micronesia to the north. It has a total land area of 46.13 million hectares, of which 97% of land is owned by local Indigenous people, while 3% is owned by the State. The country is located in one of the most tectonically active areas in the world, also known as the ring of fire. Papua New Guinea’s population of 8 million people (2020) is young and growing. 87% of the population live in rural areas. Papua New Guinea is ranked as the tenth most vulnerable country in the world to the risk of climate change. The country’s highlands region is susceptible to extreme weather such as heavy rainfall. The coastal regions, the islands and the low-lying atoll areas are mostly vulnerable to extreme weather events, storm surge, seal-level rise, and coastal inundation. With such a highly dispersed and remote population, the risk of exposure to natural hazards is very high. Most of rural populations are subsistence farmers that rely on subsistence farming for their livelihoods, with limited capacity to protect themselves from climate-induced natural disasters.
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