Nauru Environment - 2021

Environment - current issues

limited natural freshwater resources, roof storage tanks that collect rainwater and desalination plants provide water; a century of intensive phosphate mining beginning in 1906 left the central 90% of Nauru a wasteland; cadmium residue, phosphate dust, and other contaminants have caused air and water pollution with negative impacts on health; climate change has brought on rising sea levels and inland water shortages

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 12.53 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 0.05 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 0.01 megatons (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

10 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Climate

tropical with a monsoonal pattern; rainy season (November to February)

Land use

agricultural land: 20% (2018 est.)

arable land: 0% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 20% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 0% (2018 est.)

forest: 0% (2018 est.)

other: 80% (2018 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 100% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 0.18% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea

vectorborne diseases: malaria

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 6,192 tons (2016 est.)