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The article focuses on visualization of climate change in the Pacific Islands, citing its significance in literature. It states that myth of the island isolate, adapted by ecologists and anthropologists, helped to justify the detonation of hundreds of thermonuclear weapons in the atolls of the Marshall Islands, and mentions that significance of U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea in humans' relation with nature. It notes role of global warming as a cumulative effect of industrialization.

We report measurements of background gamma radiation levels on six islands in the northern Marshall Islands (Enewetak, Medren, and Runit onEnewetak Atoll; Bikini and Nam on Bikini Atoll; and Rongelap on Rongelap Atoll). Measurable excess radiation could be expected from the decay of 137Cs produced by the US nuclear testing program there from 1946 to 1958. These recordings are of relevance to safety of human habitation and resettlement. We find low levels of gamma radiation for the settled island of Enewetak [mean = 7.6 millirem/year (mrem/y) = 0.076 millisievert/year (mSv/y)], larger levels of gamma radiation for the island of Rongelap (mean = 19.8 mrem/y = 0.198 mSv/y), and relatively high gamma radiation on the island of Bikini (mean = 184 mrem/y = 1.84 mSv/y). Distributions of gamma radiation levels are provided, and hot spots are discussed. We provide interpolated maps for four islands (Enewetak, Medren, Bikini, and Rongelap), and make comparisons to control measurements performed on the island of Majuro in the southern Marshall Islands, measurements made in Central Park in New York City, and the standard agreed upon by the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) governments (100 mrem/y = 1 mSv/y). External gamma radiation levels on Bikini Island significantly exceed this standard (P = <<0.01), and external gamma radiation levels on the other islands are below the standard. To determine conclusively whether these islands are safe for habitation, radiation exposure through additional pathways such as food ingestion must be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FORD, M., 2012. Shoreline changes on an urban atoll in the central Pacific Ocean: Majuro atoll, Marshall Islands. Majuro is the capital and most populated atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands and is located approximately 3700 km W-SW of Oahu, Hawaii. Like other atolls, Majuro is considered highly vulnerable to sea level rise. One of the widely perceived impacts of sea level rise on atoll islands is widespread chronic erosion. Using a combination of aerial photos and satellite imagery, this study presents an analysis of shoreline change over a 34- to 37-year study period, characterized by rapidly increasing population, coastal development, and rising sea level (3.0 mm y−1). Results show most (93%%) urban and rural villages have increased in size over the study period. Shoreline change analysis indicates the urban area has expanded both toward the lagoon and onto the ocean-facing reef flat. Shoreline change within the urban area of Majuro has been largely driven by widespread reclamation for a mix of residential, commercial, and industrial activities. Rural areas of the atoll typically have lower rates of shoreline change relative to those of urban areas. Analysis indicates that the rural lagoon shore is predominantly eroding, whereas the ocean-facing shore is largely accreting. Any shoreline response to sea level rise along the Majuro coast is likely masked by widespread anthropogenic impacts to the coastal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change anthropology to date has devoted itself primarily to 'observation studies': investigations of how communities perceive and respond to the local physical impacts of global warming. I argue for the utility, and necessity, of a complementary research programme in 'reception studies': investigations of how communities receive, interpret and adopt the global scientific discourse of climate change that is now spreading rapidly to even the most remote societies. Using the Marshall Islands as a case study, I demonstrate the powerful influence of this discourse on local views of environmental change, belying recent arguments that anthropologists wishing to access emic notions of climate change must exclude the influence of foreign scientific education from their analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Runit Island on Enewetak Atoll was very heavily impacted by the U.S. nuclear testing campaign in the northern Marshall Islands (1946–58). The primary source of contamination on Runit Island was the 1958 Quince safety test where a large quantity of device plutonium (Pu) was scattered over the area near the GZ. A second low-yield device was detonated on the same site 10 days later, further disturbing the soil and leaving behind a very heterogeneous pattern of contamination including milligram-size particles of plutonium. A limited cleanup of the Fig-Quince zone was carried out in 1979. During this period, the effectiveness of the cleanup operations was primarily evaluated on the basis of bulk soil concentration data with little consideration given to the heterogeneity and long-term material-, biological-, and environmental-specific impacts of residual high activity (hot) particle contamination. The aim of the present study was twofold; (i) to characterize the levels and distribution of residual contamination in the Fig-Quince zone, and (ii) to develop pertinent data on the frequency distribution, elemental and isotopic composition, and physico-chemical properties of hot particles isolated from surface soils from Fig-Quince with a view towards providing recommendations on the future management and possible cleanup of the site. Today, Runit Island remains under an administrative quarantine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a study that examined the environmental problems on the low atolls of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Overview of the geologic setting of the study area; Origin of the island; Geologic hazards faced by the residents of the island.

This article reports that the antiwar organization Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) has launched a new magazine, PSR Quarterly. PSR, the U.S. wing of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, has focused on the nuclear arms race for 30 years. Articles in the first issue include:. A review of the health status of Marshall Islanders exposed to radiation by U.S. nuclear testing in the Pacific. Meryl Nass says that the program has exceeded its mandate to conduct defensive research and is involved in offensive biological weapons development, including methods using recombinant DNA, thus violating U.S. policy and international law.