Cited by 191Coastal and Marine DynamicsClimate Change, Adaptation, MigrationCoral and Marine Ecosystems Studies

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Many Atolls May be Uninhabitable Within Decades Due to Climate Change

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Storlazzi, Curt D., Elias, Edwin P.L., Berkowitz, Paul·2015·Scientific Reports

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Abstract

Observations show global sea level is rising due to climate change, with the highest rates in the tropical Pacific Ocean where many of the world’s low-lying atolls are located. Sea-level rise is particularly critical for low-lying carbonate reef-lined atoll islands; these islands have limited land and water available for human habitation, water and food sources and ecosystems that are vulnerable to inundation from sea-level rise. Here we demonstrate that sea-level rise will result in larger waves and higher wave-driven water levels along atoll islands’ shorelines than at present. Numerical model results reveal waves will synergistically interact with sea-level rise, causing twice as much land forecast to be flooded for a given value of sea-level rise than currently predicted by current models that do not take wave-driven water levels into account. Atolls with islands close to the shallow reef crest are more likely to be subjected to greater wave-induced run-up and flooding due to sea-level rise than those with deeper reef crests farther from the islands’ shorelines. It appears that many atoll islands will be flooded annually, salinizing the limited freshwater resources and thus likely forcing inhabitants to abandon their islands in decades, not centuries, as previously thought.

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Figure 1 Maps showing the morphology of Midway and Laysan, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, in the atoll-wide model grids and the smaller, finer-resolution island grids (purple boxes). (a) Midway. (b) Laysan. The 10 m, 50 m, 100 m, 500 m, and 1,000 m isobaths are labeled. Midway is characterized by islands on a shallow atoll rim and a central lagoon; Laysan, however, has a deep rim with an island in the center.CC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 2 Map of modeled wave height around Eastern Island during North Pacific winter conditions. (a) Present sea level. (b) Sea level +2.0 m above present. Most reef crests and reef flats are depth-limited for waves, in that wave heights are limited to a fraction of the water depth. Thus, as water depth increases with sea-level rise over the islands’ reef flats, it allows for more deep-water wave energy to propagate onto the reef flats and more in situ wind-wave development on the reef flats.CC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 3 Mean changes (±1 SD) in wave parameters and the resulting wave-driven water levels around the four islands for the four sea-level-rise scenarios relative to present sea level during end-member forcing conditions. (a) Wave height during North Pacific winter conditions. (b) Wave height during North Pacific summer conditions. (c) Wavelength during North Pacific winter conditions. (d) Wavelength during North Pacific summer conditions. (e) Run-up during North Pacific winter conditions. (f) Run-up during North Pacific summer conditions. N = 3321, 416, 1086, and 257 for Sand, Spit, Eastern, and Laysan, respectively. Wave height and length increase with sea-level rise due to reduced wave breaking and hydrodynamic roughness relative to water depth. The increases in wave height and wavelength result in much greater run-up at higher sea levels.CC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 4 Maps of inundation or flooding limits at Spit Island for the four sea-level-rise scenarios relative to present sea level showing the differing results from the two types of models. (a) Passive inundation modeling. (b) Dynamic wave-driven flood modeling. The passive models predict less than 1% of Spit Island remain dry at with 2.0 m of sea-level rise. The dynamic models, however, predict a similar extent of impact with 1.0 m of sea-level rise and for the entire island to be flooded multiple times annually with 1.5 m of sea-level rise.CC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 5 Differences in the percentage of land area on the four islands projected by passive modeling to be inundated (solid lines) versus that flooded by dynamic modeling (dashed lines) for the four sea-level rise scenarios relative to present sea level. (a) Sand Island. (b) Eastern Island. (c) Spit Island. (d) Laysan Island. The dynamic models that include wave-driven water levels forecast much greater impact for a given water level, or sooner in the future, than passive models.CC BY · PubMed Central

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“Flooding of coral reef-lined coasts affects thousands of vulnerable communities around the world, and climate change induced sea level rise (SLR) and coral degradation are going to continue to intensify the magnitude and frequency of hazardous flooding events (Ferrario et al., 2014; Quataert et al., 2015; Storlazzi et…”
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“The first survey focused on four topics: (1) the local’s understanding of the environment and the coast, (2) their perception of environmental issues with a focus on climate change impacts and comprehension of responsibilities for action, (3) the locals’ perspectives on community life, and (4) their perspectives and a…”
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“The impact of climate change is likely to be increasingly present for small island developing states, as some states face the possibility of losing land area due to its effects, such as coastal erosion and sea level rise (Grady et al., 2013; Storlazzi et al., 2015).”
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“Furthermore, the study performed by Storlazzi, Elias, and Berkowitz (2015) shows that the effect on low islands can be even more significant due to the interaction between higher energy waves and SLR, leading to more inundation than expected.”
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“Conversely, the latter’s extremely small size, coralline soils, and shallow freshwater lenses may result in their being uninhabitable in the next few decades (e.g., Nunn, 2013; Storlazzi et al., 2015).”
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“Despite many accounts of atoll island vulnerability (Dickinson, 2009; Quataert et al., 2015; Storlazzi et al., 2015), some geological and historical records have been interpreted to suggest that atoll islands are resilient to ASLR (Kench et al., 2015, 2018; Webb & Kench, 2010).”
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“© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group (Storlazzi et al. 2015, 2018).”
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Authors: Storlazzi, C. D., Elias, E. P. L., & Berkowitz, P.
Affiliations: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (US)
University of Hawaii at Hilo (US)
Corresponding author: Storlazzi, Curt D.
ORCID: Storlazzi, Curt D.
Elias, Edwin P.L.
Berkowitz, Paul
Venue: Scientific Reports
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published: 2015-09-25
Volume: 5
Issue: 1
Pages: 14546-14546
ISSN: 2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1038/srep14546
PMC: PMC4585922
OpenAlex: W1843479630
Cited by: 191
References: 28
Citations by year: 2026: 12 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 12
FWCI: 25.03
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: gold
doi.org
Licence: cc-by
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 (tdm)
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 (vor)
Locations: Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Geological Survey
Topics: Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Earth-Surface Processes › Coastal and Marine Dynamics
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration
Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
Keywords: atolls, sea level rise, wave run-up, coastal flooding, salinization, freshwater resources, climate change impacts, tropical Pacific islands
MeSH terms: Models, Theoretical, Pacific Ocean, Ecosystem, Climate Change, Islands

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Many Atolls May be Uninhabitable Within Decades Due to Climate Change

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