The Solomon Archipelago, in Melanesia, stretches for 1,100 kilometers and is about 600 wide. In total, the hundreds of islands, islets and outcrops that make it up cover some 40,000 square kilometers. Now a little less. A team of researchers coordinated by ecologist Simon Albert of the University of Queensland in Australia has discovered that the ocean has recently engulfed five land masses. Six other atolls are likely to face the same fate in the near future . Those responsible: erosion and rising sea levels.
For some time now, scientists have not taken their eyes off the Solomons, especially the northernmost islands, since the ocean rises three times higher than on the rest of the planet . In addition, its coasts are experiencing intense wear and tear. In fact, the waters swallowed ten houses in one of the areas most affected by this phenomenon between 2011 and 2014. “ In the points exposed to greater waves, the ocean gains ground more quickly , which suggests that there is a synergistic interaction between the action of the waves and the rise in sea level ”, explained Albert.
In the last decades, at least eleven islands have vanished due to the aforementioned causes. In a study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters , Albert and his collaborators point out that the retreat of the coastline has destroyed two populations that existed until at least 1935 , forcing their inhabitants to abandon them.
In an interview with the AFP agency, Albert has indicated that the five islands that have now disappeared were not small sandy outcrops . “These were atolls covered with vegetation, each one about five hectares, which were sometimes used by fishermen, although they were not inhabited. What has happened here allows us to see what we could find in the future, “he says.
Image: Las Salomón, after a tsunami in 2007. AusAID / CC
