Australia's national science agency says Pacific countries are lacking in basic information about climate change and how to cope with it.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation today released a report that warns about a mass exodus of Pacific Islanders due to the impacts of rising sea levels caused by global warming.
The lead author of the report, Ben Preston, says that while it's difficult to exactly predict the future movement of environmental refugees, future sea level rise is a given.
He says the report, with current data and climate models, would be a useful document for Pacific countries in preparing for the impacts of global warming
"Basic information that may be useful for trying to plan an appropriate response is lacking in many cases. So one of the things we identified in our report was simply trying to develop mechanisms by which Pacific Islands or Asia/pacific nations can increase their capacity to assess these kinds of risks either alone or in combination."
