4 ms·

> 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 du

> 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.
    - eganist 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. Please reread your own sources. Your own source concludes in the paragraph following the one you cited that: "Based on projected rates, mangrove trees could lose their race against rising water within the next 30 years." See a few others which may be related: http://www.tuvalu-overview.tv/pdf/mangrove_manual.pdf http://www.tuvalu-overview.tv/pdf/mangrove_manual.pdf https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/11812/rsrs179.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/11812/... Tldr: climate change begets soil erosion, which leads to loss of land mass... which disappears islands. Let's stop disputing the obvious just to be a contrarian. Thanks, back to work for me. Wish you the best.
- mkishi 5y ago
  How much mangrove deforestation happens in Tuvalu?

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.
  - eganist 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. Please reread your own sources. Your own source concludes in the paragraph following the one you cited that: "Based on projected rates, mangrove trees could lose their race against rising water within the next 30 years." See a few others which may be related: http://www.tuvalu-overview.tv/pdf/mangrove_manual.pdf http://www.tuvalu-overview.tv/pdf/mangrove_manual.pdf https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/11812/rsrs179.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/11812/... Tldr: climate change begets soil erosion, which leads to loss of land mass... which disappears islands. Let's stop disputing the obvious just to be a contrarian. Thanks, back to work for me. Wish you the best.
mkishi 5y ago
How much mangrove deforestation happens in Tuvalu?