Coral reef islands could adapt to survive sea-level rise: Study

Coral reef islands could adapt to survive sea-level rise: Study

According to a new study, Coral reef islands across the world could naturally adapt to survive the impact of rising sea levels.

A study led by the University of Plymouth suggests suggests islands composed of gravel material can evolve in the face of overtopping waves, with sediment from the beach face being transferred to the island’s surface.

Professor Masselink, head of the Plymouth’s Coastal Processes Research Group, said, “It is important to realise that these coral reef islands have developed over hundreds to thousands of years as a result of energetic wave conditions removing material from the reef structure and depositing the material towards the back of reef platforms, thereby creating islands”.

The research was led by Gerd Masselink, Professor of Coastal Geomorphology in Plymouth, working with colleagues at the University of Auckland and Simon Fraser University.

Mangrove trees won’t survive sea-level rise by 2050: Study

Mangrove trees won’t survive sea-level rise by 2050: Study

A recent study claims that Mangrove trees won’t survive sea-level rise by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t reduced,

Mangrove forests store large amounts of carbon, help protect coastlines and provide habitat for fish and other species.

According to a Rutgers co-authored study in the journal science, mangroves around the world will be drowned by rapidly rising seas

Using sediment data from the last 10,000 years, the study estimated the chances of mangrove survival based on rates of sea-level rise.

The study covered 78 locations and explored how mangroves responded as the rate of sea-level rise slowed from more than 10 millimeters yearly 10,000 years ago to nearly stable conditions 4,000 years later.

Mangrove trees and shrubs grow along tropical and subtropical coastlines across the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. Their roots shelter vulnerable young fish and crustaceans.

The study concluded that only a 6.2 percent chance that mangroves will be able to keep growing without being overtaken by the encroaching water by 2050.