Temperatures in Hawai'i, particularly at night and at high elevations, have been rising quickly since the 1970s, a strong indication that the Islands are experiencing the effects of global warming.

These are some of the observations University of Hawai'i Department of Geography professor Tom Giambelluca will discuss tomorrow at the Forum on Climate Change in Hawai'i. The forum, sponsored by the Hawai'i Conservation Alliance, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey, will include talks from several scientists about climate change issues related to Hawai'i.

"It's assumed (Hawai'i) won't have the same degree of climate change that we have at higher latitudes," Giambelluca said. "Most climatologists ... will say that the big changes will happen toward the poles, so we kind of get ignored. We're looking at some of the changes that have already occurred and we're finding some pretty big changes."

Giambelluca said night temperatures in Hawai'i have been increasing at a "very rapid rate" — about 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit per decade over the past 30 years. Nighttime temperatures at elevations above 2,600 feet have gone up even faster — by 0.79 degrees Fahrenheit per decade over the same period — while daytime temperatures are increasing at a much slower rate, he said.

"It's eye-opening that temperatures are increasing so fast in Hawai'i," Giambelluca said.

Records have shown natural, normal fluctuations in temperature that "go back a long way," but in recent years it appears to be diverting from that pattern, he said.

The temperature will almost certainly continue to go up, although it's unclear how quickly, he said.

The continued increase in Hawai'i temperatures has many possible implications.

For example, the fact that temperatures at higher elevations are increasing faster than those in lower areas is another indication of a trend toward drier conditions, he said.

Areas at high elevations are also home to valuable remaining native ecosystems, he said.

"Warming and drying at this elevation would pose big impacts on these remaining ecosystems," Giambelluca said.

One of the concerns is the impact on native birds, many of which are endangered. Mosquitoes that spread alien bird diseases such as avian malaria and avian pox, live in warmer areas and don't infest higher elevations where the temperature is cooler, Giambelluca said.

"These birds are surviving in the upper parts of our forests," he said. "But as the temperatures go up, that upper elevation limit of this disease is going to go up, so it's going to gradually remove that remaining refuge for these birds. That is one of the bigger concerns ecologically."

Tomorrow's forum will feature topics that include extinction risks from climate change, sea-level rise and potential impacts of climate change on coral reefs and Hawai'i rainfall.

"The reason we're having this forum is to basically begin to inform the biologists and ecologists and land managers what climate change may bring to the Islands so that they can begin to prepare and figure out how to manage those resources into the future," said Stephen Miller, science adviser for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Islands Office.

The forum will focus on "what do we know now and what kind of research needs to be done in the future to provide us with the necessary information so that we can adequately begin to deal with climate change and natural resources," Miller said. "Needless to say, what impacts natural resources is going to impact people, too."

Similar forums will likely occur in the future, Miller said.

"There should be two responses to this change — one is mitigation, which is to prevent or minimize future change, and the other is to accept the fact that we're going to have change and we're going to have to deal with it," Giambelluca said. "For example, sea level rise, temperature change, precipitation change, all the things that can be anticipated, we can minimize the impacts by preparing for them."