Lesson 2: Local Climate Impacts in NZ & Pacific

Map Legend — He Rarangi Tohu:

Map Discussion Questions (after completing the map):

• Are some regions hit by multiple types of climate impact? Which regions are most exposed?
• Are any parts of Aotearoa not impacted? Are any "safe" from climate change?
• Which communities might be most vulnerable? Consider who lives in low-lying or coastal areas historically.
• As kaitiaki, what does looking at this map make you feel? What does it ask of us?

Teacher Note: Encourage ākonga to connect the concept of turangawaewae — the place where one has the right to stand and speak — to this exercise. Climate change threatens the turangawaewae of many communities. This mapping is not abstract geography; it is deeply personal and cultural.

What Happened? | He aha i puta ai?

In February 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle made landfall in Aotearoa New Zealand as one of the most destructive storms in the country's recorded history. Fuelled by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the Pacific — linked directly to global climate change — the cyclone caused catastrophic flooding and landslides across large parts of the North Island.

NIWA scientists confirmed that the warm sea surface temperatures that intensified Cyclone Gabrielle were consistent with what climate models predict as global warming increases. While no single event can be solely attributed to climate change, NIWA stated the extreme rainfall was made more intense and more likely by climate change. This is called climate attribution science.

Key concept: Climate change does not create cyclones. It supercharges them — warmer oceans provide more energy, allowing storms to intensify faster and carry more moisture.

Research and community leaders from Tairāwhiti and Hawke's Bay identified that Māori communities — particularly those in rural areas on Māori land — experienced disproportionate impacts. This is not coincidence. Structural reasons include:

• Geographic vulnerability: Many Māori-owned lands are in flood plains or low-lying river areas — a legacy of raupatu (land confiscations) that left less desirable land in Māori hands after the 19th century
• Infrastructure gaps: Rural roads, bridges, and communications infrastructure on Māori land had received less government investment over time
• Cultural loss: Marae, wharenui (meeting houses), and urupā (burial grounds) were damaged or made inaccessible — losses that carry deep wairua (spiritual) significance that cannot be monetised
• Food sovereignty: Many whānau relied on mahinga kai (gathering food from the land and water), kāinga gardens, and local food sources that were destroyed or contaminated
• Recovery inequity: Lower insurance rates in rural Māori communities; access to government support often slow and bureaucratically complex

"Ko Papatūānuku e takoto ana, ko ia e haumaru ana i a tātou." — Papatūānuku who lies beneath us, she is our shelter and protection. When Papatūānuku is wounded by the climate crisis, she cannot shelter all her children equally.

1. How does climate science connect Cyclone Gabrielle to broader global warming? (Think: warmer ocean temperatures → more intense tropical systems)
2. Why might Māori communities experience climate disasters more severely? Is this simply "bad luck," or are there deeper historical and structural reasons?
3. What does kaitiakitanga demand of all New Zealanders when communities are devastated by climate events we collectively contributed to?
4. The term "climate justice" refers to the idea that those least responsible for climate change often suffer the most. How does Cyclone Gabrielle illustrate this within Aotearoa?
5. Extension (Y12–13): Research the concept of "loss and damage" in international climate negotiations. How does this concept relate to what happened in Hawke's Bay and Tairāwhiti?

Background: The Pacific Climate Reality

Setup: In pairs, one student is the interviewer (a journalist or researcher), and one student takes the role of a community member from Tuvalu or Kiribati. Use the character cards below as a guide, then draw on your own empathy and imagination to extend the conversation.

Class Debrief Discussion:

After the simulation: "As kaitiaki — environmental guardians — what responsibilities do we in Aotearoa have toward Pacific communities facing climate displacement? What does our whakapapa (connection) to the Pacific mean in practice?"

• "The climate impact that surprised me most today was... because..."
• "As a kaitiaki, I feel a responsibility toward Pacific communities because..."
• "One connection between Antarctic ice loss (Lesson 1) and today's local impacts lesson is..."
• "Something I will do differently knowing this is..."

"He waka eke noa."

We are all in the waka together — no one is excluded. Climate change is a shared challenge requiring shared responsibility. The Pacific and Aotearoa are in the same waka.