Wave erosion compounds damage of rising seas

Published in ERW, 18 Jul 2016

The damage of rising sea levels in the Solomon Islands over the past half century has been exacerbated by exposure to strong waves. That’s according to researchers in Australia who performed the first analysis of changing coastlines on reef islands within the Solomon Islands.

“The islands that were studied did not just ‘drown’ as might be anticipated from sea-level rise, but markedly changed their shape, and in many cases their location, indicating the significance of processes such as wave exposure,” said Colin Woodroffe of the University of Wollongong.

The fate of small, remote islands is of particular concern to those studying the effects of climate change, as rising seas can shrink the land that inhabitants have to live on. As the islands get more crowded, coastlines can be eroded further. […]

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