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The Kiribati 2019 Integrated Household Income and Expenditure Survey (Integrated HIES) embeds novel ecological and human health research into an ongoing social and economic survey infrastructure implemented by the Pacific Community in partnership with national governments. This study seeks to describe the health status of a large, nationally representative sample of a geographically and socially diverse I-Kiribati population through multiple clinical measurements and detailed socio-economic surveys, while also conducting supporting food systems research on ecological, social, and institutional drivers of change. The specific hypotheses within this research relate to access to seafood and the potential nutritional and health benefits of these foods. We conducted this research in 21 of the 23 inhabited islands of Kiribati, excluding the two inhabited islands—Kanton Islands in the Phoenix Islands group with a population of 41 persons (2020 census) and Banaba Island in the Gilbert Islands group with a population of 333 persons (2020 census)—and focusing exclusively on the remaining islands in the Gilbert and Line Islands groups. Within this sample, we focused our intensive human health and ecological research in 10 of the 21 selected islands to examine the relationship between ecological conditions, resource governance, food system dynamics, and dietary patterns. Ultimately, this research has created a baseline for future Integrated HIES assessments to simultaneously monitor change in ecological, social, economic, and human health conditions and how they co-vary over time. 

We have investigated the impacts of short‐term climatic events on firn‐permeability evolution, by analyzing density and permeability measurements from the NEEM 2009 S2 firn core from the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) site in Greenland. Our results indicate that the firn layers from 27.4 to 34.9‐m depth display the expected density but unexpected permeability values, indicating a change in firn permeability during the years 1917 to 1940. The δ¹⁸O and accumulation rates from a compilation of NEEM shallow cores indicate that 1928, 1929, and 1933 were significantly warmer years, and that 1928 and 1933 also had significantly higher accumulation rates. These results suggest that the sharp rise in Arctic temperature during the late 1920s and early 1930s caused metamorphism of the near‐surface firn, which was preserved in the layers at depth. Conversely, the average density remained undisturbed throughout this warm period. Our results show that climate fluctuations, especially increased temperature, permanently change the firn permeability. Without taking these changes into consideration, estimates of Δage will be inaccurate.