Article archive :: Pacific Environment Weekly

Woman clings to tree as tsunami washes through

05/10/2009 04:38

By Cherelle Jackson LEPA, Samoa - Kalolo Punefu, is a fortunate woman, her husband and her 13 children all survived the tsunami. Mrs Punefu, a school teacher, was walking to school when the tsunami hit her village. "I ran to the closest big tree and hugged it because it was too late...

Tsunami Hits Samoa, Wipes Out Village

04/10/2009 04:28

By Patrick Barta WSJ - Victims of the tsunami that swept across the South Pacific on Tuesday often had only minutes to escape the deadly waves and in some cases didn't receive alerts of danger, despite years of work to upgrade early-warning systems across the region. At least 119 people were...

Samoa's Prime Minister in grief as nation mourns

03/10/2009 04:36

By Cherelle Jackson APIA – Samoa's Prime Minister Hon. Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi was near tears last night as he addressed his nation. "The winds have uttered their strength, earth has spoken their grief and the wave has scattered it's strength," Tuilaepa said in Chiefly language. In...

Australian tsunami death toll rises

03/10/2009 04:31

By Cherelle Jackson AFP - LALOMANU, Samoa - Aid is on its way to the Samoan islands after a tsunami flattened villages and killed more than 100. Another Australian child has been killed by the tsunami in Samoa. A 15-month-old boy is the latest victim, taking the Australian death...

Dozens dead, villages flattened in Samoa quake, tsunami

02/10/2009 04:35

APIA(AFP) - At least 36 people were killed when an 8.0-magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami hit the remote Pacific islands of Samoa and American Samoa Tuesday, wiping out tourist resorts and villag Buildings were toppled and thousands of people fled to higher ground after the offshore...

At least 113 die in tsunami

30/09/2009 04:26

By Cherelle Jackson APIA (AFP) – Dozens of aftershocks rocked the South Pacific Wednesday, 24 hours after a huge earthquake churned up towering tsunamis that killed at least 113 people when they wiped out villages and flattened tourist resorts. Huge waves that witnesses and officials said...

Making climate change a sexy story

23/09/2009 18:15

By Cherelle Jackson APIA - Climate change stories rarely make front page and breaking news in the Pacific, at least not locally generated news items. But all that could change, with more investment by environmental organisations into the specialised training of journalists with an interest in...

Pacific met services boosted by Finland

23/09/2009 18:14

By Cherelle Jackson APIA --- More than two million tala will be invested into improving meteorological services of Pacific island nations in the next three years. The assistance comes from the Foreign Ministry of the Government of Finland, who says that is just their way of being a responsible...

Ozone hole shrinking

23/09/2009 18:11

(AFP)--- The World Meteorological Organisation said Wednesday that the ozone hole is expected to be smaller in 2009 than a year ago. "The meteorological conditions observed so far could indicate that the 2009 ozone hole will be smaller than those of 2006 and 2008 and close to that of 2007," said...

Paradigm shift, needed in climate change adaptation in Samoa

21/09/2009 08:38

By Cherelle Jackson APIA- Living for each day, to ensure there is food on the table and the whole family is fed, is how the majority of Samoans operate. But such an attitude may need a little shift with the visible impacts of climate change albeit gradual in it’s appearance. Climate Change Officer...

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