Causes and Effects of Climate Variability in the Pacific Island of Papua New Guinea

Abstract

The pacific island of Papua New Guinea is the third largest rainforest in the world. The forests help maintain the agricultural land and protect people and crops from floods and landslides. From year 2001 to 2023, there is a tree cover loss of 0.89% mainly due to deforestation and a small percentage of forest fire. This results in about five million tons of carbon dioxide emission per annum. An analysis has been done to study the spacial and temporal changes in the climate of Papua New Guinea using published meteorological parameters for a period 2001-2020. Dry and wet conditions in different regions of Papua New Guinea in different years were identified by calculating Rainfall Anomaly Index. It is observed that dry conditions prevail in some regions of the country due to warming of the atmosphere. Also, El Nina/La Nina events and deforestation influenced the climate to some extent.