Low-lying islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans have long been thought of as canaries in the coal mine — more vulnerable to sea level rise than nearly any other places on Earth.
Low-lying islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans have long been thought of as canaries in the coal mine — more vulnerable to sea level rise than nearly any other places on Earth. These islands typically sit only 3 to 15 feet above sea level at the top of atolls — undersea platforms of limestone built by coral reefs and other marine life.
As climate change causes sea level to rise and storms to strengthen, some atoll islands have been lost, including two islands in the Republic of Kiribati that disappeared in 1999. But not all islands are equally vulnerable. Studies of hundreds of atoll islands found that 79 to 89 percent were either stable or increased in size in recent decades.
Learning from these differences in island resilience, scientists are discovering that the ability of islands to persist depends on the health of their ecosystems and whether their natural processes have been disrupted by human activity. To protect islands most at risk of disappearing, some researchers now propose using nature-based solutions — like restoring and protecting coral reefs and native forests — to boost their odds of survival.
Read More: Yale Environment 360
Photo Credit: via Pixabay
