Stefan - Inhabitants - Facts and Dates / What do the people live on?
Philipp & Rebecca - environmental problems - Facts
Gerd/Velten: History
Environmental Problems in Micronesia
The Island of Micronesia has a lot of problems with fluctuations in sea level, with increasing vulnerability to natural disaster and with the decline in water resources and erosion of the coastal zone.
Other problems are the decrease in water and land resources and the deforestation in the sub region.
The issue with all these problems is that the !sea level and the !temperature regulate how and if plants grow. Witnesses are for example the corals which bleach and no fish in traditional fishing areas . All the cities, villages, agriculture and infrastructure are concentrated in costal zones and cause especially sea level rise. Drought is a common problem. It mostly happens because of pollution of the groundwater. The chance of the weather is also a factor. For example: In 1997/1998 was the worst !drought in El Nino as a result of less rainfall. One cause of landerosion is overgrazing in the bigger island and water and wind !erosion on small island. Also the use of chemicals in agriculture and the pressure from globalization are a matter for this problem.
Increasing vulnerability to natural disasters
Physical natural disasters including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and droughts, threaten much of the South Pacific region. The region’s tropical and subtropical climate is punctuated by climatic extremes which have far reaching impacts on land use and serious environmental consequences. Melanesia, Guam, and the Mariana Islands are part of the ‘Pacific Rim of Fire’ for example. In many other sub region, severe tropical storms and cyclones are accompanied by massive rainfall and the low pressure may cause the sea to rise as much as 2 metres, itself stimulating wide spread flooding, coastal inundation, loss of vegetation, land erosion and destruction of housing and gardens.
Causes
Lifestyle changes dominated by the movement away from subsistence and towards consumer lifestyles have characterized much of the increasing
pressures on the South Pacific environment. The consequences are climate change, population growth, and coastal urbanization and deficient infrastructure.
Nevertheless, poverty is a serious emerging issue, particularly in relation to the growing levels of urban inward migration.
For a interesting table visit this page:
http://www.unescap.org/esd/environment/soe/2000/documents/CH18.PDF
Inhabitants
About 107,000 people life on the Federated States of Micronesia.
0-14 years: 35.9% (male 19,726/female 19,011)
15-64 years: 61.2% (male 32,891/female 33,071)
65 years and over: 2.9% (male 1,379/female 1,784) (2007 est.)
As you can see, there are only 2.9% of the inhabitants over 65 years.
That shows that there are mainly young people.
Main tribes:
Chuuk – 53.000
Pohnpei – 34.500
Yap – 11.200
Kosrae – 7.700
Since the year 1980 there has been an increase of 24,000 people.
The inhabitants have the permission to enter the USA to maintain “habitual residence”.
About 15,000 Micronesians are currently living in the USA.
Guam - 7,000
Hawaii, Mainland – 5,000
CNMI* – 3,000
What do Micronesians live on?
Micronesians produce their own food.
They mainly live on farming & fishing.
In the northwest of the island, people eat mostly rice, which they grow locally
In the west the Micronesian farmers produce Taro*.
In eastern Micronesia, Breadfruit is the most important crop.
Today, most of the food for the Micronesians is imported.
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Gerd/Velten: History
History of the Federated States of Micronesia
Early History
The island was first discovered and settled among two and 3000 years ago by people from Southeast Asia. There are still ruins, which are impressive reminders of that people.
In 1525 Portuguese navigators who searched for the Spice Islands discovered the island.
Later Spanish expeditions made the first European contact with natives and established their colonies on Yap and the Caroline islands until the year 1899.
At that time Spain sold their colonies to Germany.
Under German administration the trade and production were encouraged.
20th Century
In 1914 the German administration ended and Japan started their administration, but the formalists was not finished before 1920.
Under Japanese administration the Japanese population grew up to over 100000.The native were just about 40000.
They made sugar cane, mining, fishing and tropical agriculture to the main industries.
Then the Second World War came and stopped it abruptly. Most industry and infrastructure were destroyed.
After world War Two the UN created the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) in 1947. It was under civil administration of the US until 1951, when the authority was passed to the department of Interior.
Today
On July 12,1978 they formed the states of Micronesia and 12 years later they became definitely independent and a member of the United Nations (UN).
English word explanation or German equivalent
fluctations Schwankungen
sea level hight of the water obove the ground
natural disaster Naturunglück
decline something you would put in a bin but much bigger
degrade abbauen
sub region the region a bit lower
drought Trockenheit
overgrazing Überweidung
impacts Belastungen
accompained if you go with someone to the doctors you accompain him/her
severe simular to hard
inundation if a big wave smashs on your boat, your boat is indudated
urbanization Verstädterung
issue simular to a problem but not as bad
emerging aufkommend
erosion Abnutzung