At Midway Atoll, Obama calls for preservation in the Pacific

The Pacific visit is part of a ten-day trip to address climate change and attend the G20 summit in China alongside President Xi Jinping, with whom Obama worked during the Paris climate conference to try and cut carbon emissions around the world.

“7,000 species live in its waters, a quarter of which are not found anywhere else in the world”, he said.

Hopping to Midway on a morning flight from Honolulu, Obama will land on an airstrip that gained prominence during World War II with the pivotal Battle of Midway. The White House says he plans to spend the afternoon touring the island, getting briefed by conservation officials and interacting with the wildlife.

From Midway to Katahdin, it has been the summer of the national parks for President Obama as he works to solidify his legacy as a conservationist.

“There are countries that now are at risk, and they have to move as a effect of climate change”, Obama said.

World’s largest marine protected area will be created on Friday when President Obama will expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii. “So this is a hallowed site, and it deserves to be treated that way, and from now on, it will be preserved for future generations”.

Ahead of Obama’s visit, the White House announced modest new steps to help Pacific island countries prepare for climate change, including $9 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development for resilience programs in places like Fiji, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea.

Supporters said the larger monument was needed to protect a place considered sacred by Native Hawaiians by making it off-limits to commercial fishing and recreational activities. For which, the departments will signs an agreement with Hawaii’s Department of Natural Resources and Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Obama and Xi have been strident advocates of the sweeping global emissions-cutting deal struck in Paris previous year.

During his past nine trips to Asia, Obama has sometimes been distracted by other worldwide developments from the emphasis he sought to place on boosting USA military and economic ties to the fast-growing region, leading critics to doubt whether the US commitment will last.

In June 1942, USA forces, tipped by code-breakers that the Japanese navy was planning an attack, sank four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser in a giant air-sea battle. In fact, the longest-living marine species in the world-black coral would also be protected. “It’s not ‘we think it is man-made, ‘ it’s not, ‘we guess it is man-made, ‘ it’s not, ‘a lot of people are saying it’s man-made, ‘ it’s not, ‘I’m not a scientist so I don’t know.’ You don’t have to be scientist”.