The 2011 Tuvalu drought was a period of severe

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

afflicting

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-nor ...

, a South Pacific island country of approximately 10,500 people, in the latter half of 2011. A state of emergency was declared on September 28, 2011; with rationing of available fresh-water. The

La Niña La Niña (; ) is an oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon that is the colder counterpart of as part of the broader El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern. The name ''La Niña'' originates from Spanish for "the girl", by an ...

event that caused the drought ended in April–May 2012. By August 2012 the

El Niño-Southern Oscillation EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American p ...

(ENSO) Conditions indicated that the tropical Pacific Ocean was on the brink of an

El Niño El Niño (; ; ) is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific (approximately between the International Date ...

event.

Background

Tuvalu experiences the effects of El Niño & La Niña that flow from changes in ocean temperatures in equatorial and central Pacific.

effects increase the chances of

tropical cyclones A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dependi ...

; while

effects increase the chances of drought conditions in Tuvalu. Tuvalu relies primarily on

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

for the majority of its

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

, which is collected and stored in storage tanks. The country normally receives between 200–400 mm (7.87–15.75 in) of rain per month during an average year.

La Niña effect and drought

The country had been hit by a prolonged period of dry weather in the second half 2011, which had been attributed to the

that results in the cooling of the surface temperature of the sea around Tuvalu which resulted in reduced rainfall. In October 2011, the Tuvalu Red Cross reported that the country had not received normal rainfall in six months, leading to shortages. The capital,

Funafuti Funafuti is the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people (2017 census), and so it has more people than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with approximately 60% of the population. It consists of a narrow sweep of lan ...

, and several of the outer

atolls An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gro ...

had been particularly affected by the drought.

Nukulaelae Nukulaelae is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu, and it has a population of 300 (2017 census). The largest settlement is Pepesala on Fangaua islet with a population of 300 people (2017 Census). It has the form of an oval and consists of ...

and

Nanumaga Nanumanga or Nanumaga is a reef island and a district of the Oceanian island nation of Tuvalu. It has a surface area of about 3 km² with a population of 491 (2017 Census). History On 9 May 1824 a French government expedition under Captain ...

were the most seriously affected outer islands. The dry conditions on Nukulaelae affected the vast majority of pulaka pits -

Pulaka Pulaka, ''Cyrtosperma merkusii'', or swamp taro, is a crop grown mainly in Tuvalu and an important source of carbohydrates for the area's inhabitants. It is a " swamp crop" similar to taro, but "with bigger leaves and larger, coarser roots." The s ...

, or swamp taro, is a staple crop for Tuvaluans. On

Vaitupu Vaitupu is the largest atoll of the nation of Tuvalu. It is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees east. There are 1,061 people (2017 Census) living on with the main village being Asau. Geography The island, which covers approxima ...

the drought was also severe, but not as bad as the other islands.

Declaration of a state of emergency

The government declared a state of emergency on September 28, 2011, due to severe

water shortage Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is wher ...

s in the capital

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

. The drought conditions resulted in water being rationed on the islands of

and

as water reserves ran low. Households on Funafuti and Nukulaelae were restricted to two buckets of fresh water per day (40 litres). Households on

and

were rationed to two buckets of fresh-water a day (40 litres). A resident of Funafuti (in a household of 5 people) is quoted as saying that it is "hard, very hard" for her household to get by on the ration of two buckets of water a day. Meanwhile, other Tuvaluans were being forced to pay for imported foods as the consequence of failing crops as the result of the drought. Princess Margaret Hospital limited admissions to try and cope with the water rationing, with a fear that there may be a rise in waterborne diseases due to a lack of public bathing. The secretary general of Tuvalu Red Cross, Tataua Pefe, said that lack of rain had caused the contamination of remaining

ground water Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...

supplies, "It's not safe for consumption...Some animals have died recently and we think it's because of subterranean water." Lack of rainfall had affected other countries and territories in the region, including

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

Tokelau Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, a ...

and

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

International aid

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

began airlifting supplies and fresh water to Tuvalu on Monday, October 3, 2011. The New Zealand government had received reports during the prior weekend that parts of Tuvalu had just a two-day supply of water left, according to Foreign Affairs Minister

Murray McCully Murray Stuart McCully (born 19 February 1953) is a former New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2017. Early life Born in Whangārei, McCully was educated at Ar ...

. A

New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

C-130 Hercules

transport plane A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft usually do not incorporate passenger a ...

landed in the country carrying two desalination units and large containers of fresh water into Funafuti. Australia also sent a desalination plant. Officials from various

aid agencies An aid agency, also known as development charity, is an organization dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government, between governments as multilateral donors and as private voluntary organizatio ...

, including the International Red Cross and the Tuvalu Red Cross, worked with the New Zealand and Tuvaluan governments to alleviate the drought and shortages. The government of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

funded the shipment of 60,000 bottles of water from Fiji to Tuvalu. The governments of Australia and

responded to the fresh-water crisis by supplying temporary desalination plants, and assisting in the repair of the existing desalination unit that was donated by Japan in 2006. In response to the 2011 drought, Japan funded the purchase of a 100 m³/d desalination plant and two portable 10 m³/d plants as part of its Pacific Environment Community (PEC) program. Aid programmes of the European Union in 2010 and 2011; and Australia also provided water storage tanks to increase storage capacity in the outer islands as part of a longer term solution for the storage of available fresh water. Australia has also funded the installation of water tanks on

, which project also involved improving roof and gutter systems of households to capture more fresh water. In July 2012 a United Nations Special Rapporteur called on the Tuvalu Government to develop a national water strategy to improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

References

External links

Tuvalu Meteorological ServiceFiji Meteorological ServiceSouth Pacific Sea Level and Climate Monitoring Project (SPSLCMP)Island Climate Update, (NIWA) National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research of New Zealand
{{DEFAULTSORT:2011 Tuvalu drought Environment of Tuvalu

Drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...