Guest essay by Eric Worrall
According to the Australian ABC, most of the tropical coral islands in the Pacific Ocean that were studied by the University of Auckland maintain their size or grow in size despite the effects of global warming.
Hundreds of Pacific islands are getting bigger despite global warming
Pacific Beat / By Marian Faa
New research suggests that hundreds of islands in the Pacific are increasing on land, despite rising sea levels from climate change threatening the region.
Scientists from the University of Auckland found that atolls in the Pacific countries of the Marshall Islands and Kiribati, as well as the Maldives archipelago in the Indian Ocean, have grown by up to 8 percent over the past six decades despite sea level rise.
They say their research could help climate-damaging nations adapt to global warming in the future.
The scientists used satellite imagery of islands and on-site analysis to track the changes.
The coastal geomorphologist Dr. Paul Kench said the coral reef sediment was responsible for building the islands.
Said Dr. Kench In areas where coral reefs were healthy, enough sediment was produced to cause the islands to grow.
“The majority of the islands in each of these nations either got bigger or stayed very similar in size,” he said.
“So, you know, one of the remarkable things about the work is that these islands are actually quite dynamic in a physical sense.”
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Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-08/why-are-hundreds-of-pacific-islands-getting-bigger/13038430
What I don’t understand is if global warming threatens to kill all corals in the Great Barrier Reef, how can coral islands in Ailinglaplap Atoll get bigger almost right on the equator?
Professor Kench expressed concern about global warming. Maybe he thinks the corals will all die when we get to 1.5 ° C or so.
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