Australia & Oceania

"Five islands have disappeared in the Pacific's Solomon Islands due to rising sea levels and coastal erosion, according to an Australian study that scientists said Saturday could provide valuable insights for future research.

A further six reef islands have been severely eroded in the remote area of the Solomons, the study said, with one experiencing some 10 houses being swept into the sea between 2011 and 2014.

"Australia's re-elected conservative government has announced a U-turn in its climate change policy, reinstating climate science as the bedrock of its peak science body [CSIRO] just months after slashing its funding and axing hundreds of jobs."

"The United Nations has tried to cover up its involvement in the Australian government’s successful attempt to have all mentions of the country removed from a report on climate change and world heritage sites, freedom of information documents show."

"[Philippines] President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he will not honor the Paris Agreement on Climate Change which was adopted by the Philippines and about 200 countries in December last year."

"The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is now critically endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This change means that both species of orangutan now face an “extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.”"

"Climate change is threatening the livelihoods of the people of tiny Kiribati, and even the island nation’s existence. The government is making plans for the island’s demise."

"Mass coral bleaching has destroyed at least 35 percent of the northern and central Great Barrier Reef, Australian scientists said on Monday, a major blow to the World Heritage Site that attracts about A$5 billion ($3.59 billion) in tourism each year."

"Cyclone Zena, a category three tropical storm with winds in excess of 120 kph (75 mph), is set to hit Fiji within 24 hours as the South Pacific island nation struggles to recover from a devastating cyclone in February."

"Australian authorities said Sunday coral bleaching occurring in the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef had become "severe", the highest alert level, as sea temperatures warm."

"All 22 of the early-warning buoys Indonesia that were deployed after the 2004 tsunami disaster were inoperable when a massive undersea earthquake struck off the country's coast on Wednesday, a national disaster mitigation agency official said."