Session4-8 Atoll Reclamation Option Smithr
Atoll Reclamation, an Option? Robert Smith, Geoscience Division PC Star-2016 1 Atoll Provinces of the Tropical Pacific Ocean Numbers vary for atolls globally - 1952 E.H Bryan jnr reported some 400 atolls Star-2016 From Dickinson 2009 published in GSA 2 Typical Atoll Issues • Land shortage and scarcity, • Increasing land tenure problems (disputes on ownership, boundaries, and leases), • Increased demand for shelter and housing, • Increasing numbers of urban squatters and emergence of ‘urban poor’, • Groundwater and lagoon pollution through leaching of sewage and other waste, • ad hoc garbage and waste disposal • Increasing environmental degradation • Contamination of fish from human excrement, Star-2016 3 Star-2016 4 Vulnerabilities with respect to climate variability and change • Rising mean sea level is only one of several potential effects of changing global climate. Other factors that will affect the coasts of islands in atoll settings include: • Changing storm patterns (e.g. cyclone frequency and distribution), wind patterns, • Sea-surface temperature (SST). Impacts on sediment supply coral and other species. • Changes in rainfall that effect rainwater harvesting • Changes in rainfall that impact ground water recharge Star-2016 5 Global average sea level versus Regional sea level . Global average sea level is affected by changes in net ocean heat content and land based ice melt which are strongly influenced by warming trends. Regional sea level variations largely result from changes in wind patterns and ocean circulation that are components of natural climate variability. Source :Pages –AGU publication 2016 Interglacials past 800,00 yrs Star-2016 6 Regional sea level trends January 2016- monthly summary Federated States of Micronesia recorded its lowest monthly sea level on record, while monthly sea levels at many other stations fell to their lowest levels in 5 years.
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