Rising sea levels mean five Solomon Islands now underwater

http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/climate-change-rising-sea-levels-mean-five-solomon-islands-now-underwater/news-story/f005f80f696f2abe13c15dd9334bbd2e

THEY are the tiny islands that have literally disappeared.

Five islands in the Pacific Ocean existed as late as 2014; fast forward two years and they are nowhere to be seen.

A further six reef islands are also facing the same fate, in a disturbing warning to the world’s scientists and other low-lying nations.

An alarming new study, published in Environmental Research Letters, reveals rising sea levels and coastal erosion are to blame for the predicament.

Scientists warn the findings could provide valuable insights for future research.

“At least 11 islands across the northern Solomon Islands have either totally disappeared over recent decades or are currently experiencing severe erosion,” the study confirms.

“Shoreline recession at two sites has destroyed villages that have existed since at least 1935, leading to community relocations.”

Study lead author Simon Albert said one island had lost 10 houses to the sea between 2011 and 2014.

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

According to the study, the five that had vanished were all vegetated reef islands up to five hectares (12 acres) that were occasionally used by fishermen but not populated.

“They were not just little sand islands,” Dr Albert said.

It is feared that the rise in sea levels will cause widespread erosion and inundation of low-lying atolls in the Pacific.