Island creation could counteract effect of sea level rise: Nature World News

“The creation of new islands could make up for the loss of land in the Maldives due to sea level rise, a study published in the journal Geology suggests,” reports Tamarra Kemsley for Nature World News.

“Regional island building consists of lagoons filling with sand taken from the surrounding coral reefs. As this happens, plant and animal life take root.

By studying the history and timing of this process throughout the area, researchers concluded that the continued accumulation of sand within the reefs found inside Maldivian atolls offer an opportunity for future island development.

Smaller reefs where the lagoons are nearly filled in, the study showed, are most likely to give way to islands — a process that could happen within 100 years if provided with enough sand.

The findings further suggested that these smaller islands could then grow into structures that could then be inhabited even as sea level rise reduces the land available on other islands.”

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