The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007) lists wave climate as one of six major climate drivers for coastal systems. The wave climate around individual islands varies according to the nearshore water depths and shorelines react according to differences in reef shape and sediment supply. As yet, however, there has been no formal assessment of baseline wave climate or climate change effects on wind-waves at scales relevant to Pacific Island Countries. This represents a key uncertainty for climate change adaptation.
This major knowledge gap will be addressed by the Wave and Coasts in the Pacific Project (WACOP). Developed under the ACP Caribbean & Pacific Research Programme for Sustainable Development and funded by the European Union, WACOP seeks to improve understanding of regional wave dynamics and their influence on shoreline processes. The outcomes will contribute to regional and global understanding of potential climate change and climate variability impacts with respect to wave climate and provide information for improved understanding of coastal vulnerability and adaptation responses in Pacific Islands.
Using state of the art open source models that can compute wind-waves from the offshore (Wavewatch III model), through to nearshore wave transformations (SWAN model), to coastal erosion and overtopping (the XBeach model), the project will provide solutions at small island scales, and at scales where decisions about adaptation and energy security need to be made.
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