AS SEA LEVEL RISES PACIFIC ISLANDS GROW

Professor Ian Plimer recently expressed doubt about rising sea level submerging the world's islands:

"If there is a sea-level rise we would expect every atoll in every ocean to be inundated. But we don't see this."

As expected, Plimer's comments were rejected by the left. Despite evidence that sea level has risen quite a bit over the past 100 years, a new study appears to support Plimer.

EU EDF 8/9 – SOPAC Project Report 54, TUVALU TECHNICAL REPORT – COASTAL CHANGE ANALYSIS USING MULTI-TEMPORAL IMAGE COMPARISONS – FUNAFUTI ATOLL uses aerial and satellite photos to compare coastal erosion during the period 1941 - 2003. Particular attention is given to the period 1984 - 2003; the period for which the highest quality photos are available. If sea level is in fact rising it seems reasonable to assume that coastal erosion should have increased with a consequent decrease in the size of the islands studied. Contrary to expectations, the report - in a pdf form I can't copy from - indicates that erosion has not increased, with the total area of the islands actually increasing slightly. Download the report and have a look: many of the low-lying Pacific atolls are, at the best of times, iffy places to live.