Will the Pacific Islands start to disappear
5
www.worldweatheronline.com Will the Pacific Islands start to disappear?
-
Upload
world-weather-online -
Category
Environment
-
view
154 -
download
0
Transcript of Will the Pacific Islands start to disappear
www.worldweatheronline.com
Will the Pacific Islands start to disappear?
www.worldweatheronline.com
As the global climate is warming, sea levels are rising. This leaves an uncertain future for many low-lying islands including the Pacific Islands – will they sink?
What’s this about?
www.worldweatheronline.com
How is it making sea levels rise?
• Thermal expansion: As the temperature of water increases, it expands. Almost half of the past century’s rise in sea level is a consequence of the oceans simply occupying more space.
• Melting of glaciers and ice caps: With more consistently higher temperatures caused by global climate change, the glaciers and ice caps are melting more over the summer. There is a decreased amount of snowfall in the winter. Therefore there is significant net gain in runoff versus evaporation for the ocean, causing sea levels to rise.
• Ice loss from Greenland and West Antarctica: Increased heat is causing the massive ice sheets that cover Greenland and Antarctica to melt at an accelerated pace.
www.worldweatheronline.com
Will the Pacific Islands disappear?
Not necessarily. Undeveloped reef islands change shape and move around in response to shifting sediments. Also many of them are growing in size, not shrinking, as sea level inches upward.
However islands that have been transformed by human development such as Tuvalu (600 miles north of Fiji) which have seawalls, roads, and water and electricity systems that are locked in place, may not have such a bright future.
www.worldweatheronline.com
To find out more about why not read the whole article, click the link below:
Will the Pacific Islands start to disappear?
