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The image of the government official standing in the water "on what used to be dry land" is quite dramatic.[1] Unfortunately that land is not underwater due to

The image of the government official standing in the water "on what used to be dry land" is quite dramatic.[1] Unfortunately that land is not underwater due to climate change-driven sea level rise, but due to soil erosion. They do mention this fact, however the focus of the article inexplicably remains on rising sea levels. A factchecker might call that "missing context" (or worse). [1]https://www.reuters.com/resizer/8doSEMId31ayO3rBn1MaCzPgW50=/960x0/filters:quality(80)/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/XRLGUTBN6NIQ3L5OOFE2FQ32IU.jpg https://www.reuters.com/resizer/8doSEMId31ayO3rBn1MaCzPgW50=...

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
smnrchrds 5y ago
> Unfortunately that land is not underwater due to climate change-driven sea level rise Did anyone think it to be the case? That the sea levels have risen a meter already and we just haven't tuned in to the news recently enough to learn about it?
- postsantum 5y ago
  People are suffering, people are dying ™ You would be suprised if you knew how many people think oceans will be boiling in 50 years
eganist 5y ago
> The image of the government official standing in the water "on what used to be dry land" is quite dramatic.[1] > Unfortunately that land is not underwater due to climate change-driven sea level rise, but due to soil erosion. They do mention this fact, however the focus of the article inexplicably remains on rising sea levels. > A factchecker might call that "missing context" (or worse). Summarizing is a thing journalists do to make things more accessible to lay readers, but that didn't work in your case, so I'll expand with common resources and research from ten seconds worth of googling. "As global sea level rises, the action of waves at higher elevations increases the likelihood for extensive coastal erosion. " (https://toolkit.climate.gov/topics/coastal-flood-risk/coastal-erosion https://toolkit.climate.gov/topics/coastal-flood-risk/coasta...) "Sea level rise shown to drive coastal erosion" (https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/00EO00034 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/00EO...) Please don't assume malice.
- hammock 5y ago
  Once again some context is missing. Of course coastal erosion is caused by wave action. However, the reason it is a problem is because of mangrove deforestation. Over half of the Pacific islands' mangroves have been rapidly destroyed by human development efforts just in the last 20 years. Mangroves are the natural, first and best line of defense against coastal erosion. They create soil. Without either mangroves or manmade seawalls, it doesn't matter what the sea level is - the coast will erode at an unsustainable rate. It really grinds my gears that "solving climate change" - the hardest problem to solve - is presented as a panacea for what are really more complex environmental issues which actually happen to have simpler solutions.
  - eganist 5y ago
    "Climate Change may wipe out large mangrove forests" https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/912045029/climate-change-may-wipe-out-large-mangrove-forests-new-research-suggests https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/912045029/climate-change-may-... Even if logging is a concern, the mangroves wouldn't be as protective as you're implying. Directly related reading: "Mangroves in Tuvalu are threatened by various factors such as coastal erosion, pollution and on a long term basis the sea level rise due to global warming." (https://www.fao.org/forestry/9011-09d32b158b21752798b87b03786b39ec.pdf https://www.fao.org/forestry/9011-09d32b158b21752798b87b0378...) Known at least as far back as 15 years ago: "Rising sea levels caused by global warming are posing a threat to mangroves and therefore communities in Pacific island nations, according to [the United Nations]" (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/jul/17/climatechange.climatechangeenvironment https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/jul/17/climatec...)
    - hammock 5y ago
      There is no question that mangroves can save shoreline, today. The sea level rise in question is not enough to kill mangroves and won't be for some time. One source: >The authors determined that accretion will not keep up beyond sea-level rise of 0.27 inches per year. Rutgers University climate data scientist Erica Ashe, one of the authors, says the current global rate is 0.134 inches https://therevelator.org/mangroves-climate-change/ https://therevelator.org/mangroves-climate-change/ On an unrelated note, I am glad that you are doing some research and hopefully learning a bit along the way.
mikojan 5y ago
What is the effect of rising sea levels on land masses afflicted by soil erosion in your mind?
- hanniabu 5y ago
  His arm chair expertise didn't think that far
wrycoder 5y ago
Wikipedia: "Over four decades, there had been a net increase in land area of the islets of 73.5 ha (2.9%), although the changes are not uniform, with 74% increasing and 27% decreasing in size. The sea level at the Funafuti tide gauge has risen at 3.9 mm per year, which is approximately twice the global average."

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

smnrchrds 5y ago

> Unfortunately that land is not underwater due to climate change-driven sea level rise Did anyone think it to be the case? That the sea levels have risen a meter already and we just haven't tuned in to the news recently enough to learn about it?

postsantum 5y ago
People are suffering, people are dying ™ You would be suprised if you knew how many people think oceans will be boiling in 50 years

eganist 5y ago

> The image of the government official standing in the water "on what used to be dry land" is quite dramatic.[1] > Unfortunately that land is not underwater due to climate change-driven sea level rise, but due to soil erosion. They do mention this fact, however the focus of the article inexplicably remains on rising sea levels. > A factchecker might call that "missing context" (or worse). Summarizing is a thing journalists do to make things more accessible to lay readers, but that didn't work in your case, so I'll expand with common resources and research from ten seconds worth of googling. "As global sea level rises, the action of waves at higher elevations increases the likelihood for extensive coastal erosion. " (https://toolkit.climate.gov/topics/coastal-flood-risk/coastal-erosion https://toolkit.climate.gov/topics/coastal-flood-risk/coasta...) "Sea level rise shown to drive coastal erosion" (https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/00EO00034 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/00EO...) Please don't assume malice.

hammock 5y ago
Once again some context is missing. Of course coastal erosion is caused by wave action. However, the reason it is a problem is because of mangrove deforestation. Over half of the Pacific islands' mangroves have been rapidly destroyed by human development efforts just in the last 20 years. Mangroves are the natural, first and best line of defense against coastal erosion. They create soil. Without either mangroves or manmade seawalls, it doesn't matter what the sea level is - the coast will erode at an unsustainable rate. It really grinds my gears that "solving climate change" - the hardest problem to solve - is presented as a panacea for what are really more complex environmental issues which actually happen to have simpler solutions.
- eganist 5y ago
  "Climate Change may wipe out large mangrove forests" https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/912045029/climate-change-may-wipe-out-large-mangrove-forests-new-research-suggests https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/912045029/climate-change-may-... Even if logging is a concern, the mangroves wouldn't be as protective as you're implying. Directly related reading: "Mangroves in Tuvalu are threatened by various factors such as coastal erosion, pollution and on a long term basis the sea level rise due to global warming." (https://www.fao.org/forestry/9011-09d32b158b21752798b87b03786b39ec.pdf https://www.fao.org/forestry/9011-09d32b158b21752798b87b0378...) Known at least as far back as 15 years ago: "Rising sea levels caused by global warming are posing a threat to mangroves and therefore communities in Pacific island nations, according to [the United Nations]" (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/jul/17/climatechange.climatechangeenvironment https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/jul/17/climatec...)
  - hammock 5y ago
    There is no question that mangroves can save shoreline, today. The sea level rise in question is not enough to kill mangroves and won't be for some time. One source: >The authors determined that accretion will not keep up beyond sea-level rise of 0.27 inches per year. Rutgers University climate data scientist Erica Ashe, one of the authors, says the current global rate is 0.134 inches https://therevelator.org/mangroves-climate-change/ https://therevelator.org/mangroves-climate-change/ On an unrelated note, I am glad that you are doing some research and hopefully learning a bit along the way.

mikojan 5y ago

What is the effect of rising sea levels on land masses afflicted by soil erosion in your mind?

hanniabu 5y ago
His arm chair expertise didn't think that far

wrycoder 5y ago

Wikipedia: "Over four decades, there had been a net increase in land area of the islets of 73.5 ha (2.9%), although the changes are not uniform, with 74% increasing and 27% decreasing in size. The sea level at the Funafuti tide gauge has risen at 3.9 mm per year, which is approximately twice the global average."