![]() ![]() ![]() The purpose of Operation Crossroads was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on naval warships. The first testing series in the Marshall Islands occurred under Operation Crossroads. power, contributed to this rapid expansion. Fear of the Soviet Union increasing their atomic weapons, and the belief that building up nuclear arms could help establish U.S. government established the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to monitor the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. expanded their nuclear research and development programs. conducted 23 of these tests at Bikini Atoll, and 44 near Enewetak Atoll, but fallout spread throughout the Marshall Islands.ĭuring the post-World War II period the U.S. Between 19, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. In 1946, the islands had a population of 52,000. In 1947, the Marshall Islands became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, created by the United Nations and then administered by the U.S. planned to test powerful nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands. Due to the remote location, sparse population, and other nearby U.S. Marine and Army forces defeated Japanese troops on both the Kwajalein and Enewetak atolls. In 1914, Japan captured the Marshall Islands and built military bases. The Marshallese have lived there for thousands of years. The Marshall Islands have been occupied by humans since the Micronesians arrived in the second millennium BCE. On each atoll there are a number of islands. The complex interplay among the native island rainforest, the reefs, seabirds and fish provide an ideal living laboratory for investigations focused on climate adaptation and resilience.The Marshall Islands consist of two chains of 29 coral atolls, and are located north of the equator, between Hawaii and Australia. Palmyra’s fringing coral reefs are the engine that drive the health and stability of the islands themselves. With an absence of current, local human impacts and access to one of the world’s healthiest coral reef ecosystems, TNC and its partners are uniquely positioned to investigate the critical driving factors of coral reef health. Other locations have facilities, but their reefs and coastal habitat are not free of near-universal anthropogenic stressors. Palmyra is a perfect place to study climate resilience and adaptation. It is one of the only marine environments that is spectacularly intact but also offers facilities to support experimental research on healthy coral reef and coastal ecosystems. Palmyra Atoll is of global significance for coral reef research-especially in the face of climate change. ![]() At Palmyra, TNC aims to provide other Pacific atolls with a model for understanding the essential elements keeping reefs healthy and transferring that knowledge to similar places to help reduce impacts. With coastal erosion, sea-level rise, ocean warming and other impacts intensifying, low-lying coral islands like Palmyra are on the front line of global climate change. Now, as Palmyra enters its third decade under conservation management, TNC’s ambitious global goals and priorities-and the urgency of climate change-bring this storied atoll’s global scientific value into newly sharpened focus. The science here is as spectacular as the habitat protected by it, including globally significant work on El Niño patterns that led to a breakthrough in understanding human impacts on tropical marine ecosystems. With most local threats managed, Palmyra’s atoll ecosystem is well positioned for adaptation and resilience in response to climate impacts. Today, Palmyra is a TNC preserve within a National Wildlife Refuge and further protected-out to 50 nautical miles-by the national monument, the largest collection of ocean and islands protected under a single jurisdiction in the world. ![]()
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