Five islands have disappeared as Pacific sea levels rise
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029815
BBC : The Solomon Archipelago is a lightly populated chain of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. A survey of aerial and satellite images collected between 1947 and 2014 has revealed that five of the islands have been swallowed by the ocean through a combination of rising sea levels and erosion. The islands were vegetated reefs that were unpopulated and relatively small—the largest was only 12 acres (0.05 km2). However, larger, populated islands are also being damaged. One of them, Nuatambu, has lost half its inhabitable area and 11 houses since 2011. The study notes that although the islands have seen sea levels rise as much as 10 mm/year over the last two decades, extreme weather events and inappropriate development are also responsible for some of the damage.
