Sea-Level Rise Claims Five Islands in Solomons: StudY

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/36772-sea-level-rise-claims-five-islands-in-solomons-study

A new study published by Australian academics reveals at least five low-lying reef islands in the Solomon Islands have vanished due rising global sea-levels and coastal erosion.

“At least eleven islands across the northern Solomon Islands have either totally disappeared over recent decades or are currently experiencing severe erosion,” a new report published in the journal Environmental Research Letters stated.

The researchers looked at 33 islands using aerial and satellite imagery from 1947 to 2014, combined with historical insight from local knowledge.

"They were not just little sand islands,” lead author of the report, Simon Albert, told AFP.

The new research discovered that rates of shoreline recession were substantially higher in areas exposed to high wave energy, indicating a "synergistic interaction" between sea-level rise and waves, which Albert said could prove useful for future study.

Albert, a senior research fellow at the University of Queensland, said the Solomons Islands are considered a sea-level hotspot because rises there are almost three times higher than the global average.

The most recent findings by a team of climate researchers serves as evidence of the devastating impact of climate change on low lying Pacific countries, the report warns.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Horrible. n/t