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"As The Planet Warms, Atoll Nations Like The Maldives Seemed Doomed To Shrink. 
Scientists Have Begun To Tell A Surprising New Story."

A Surprising Climate Find

June 27, 2024
By Raymond Zhong

I'm a climate reporter.

We humans have settled in all sorts of precarious environments: parched 
deserts, barren tundra, high mountains. None are precarious in quite the same 
way as atolls, the tiny, low-lying islands that dot the tropics. As the planet 
warms and the oceans rise, atoll nations like the Maldives, the Marshall 
Islands and Tuvalu have seemed doomed to vanish, like the mythical Atlantis, 
into watery oblivion.

Of late, though, scientists have begun telling a surprising new story about 
these islands. By comparing mid-20th century aerial photos with recent 
satellite images, they've been able to see how the islands have evolved over 
time. What they found is startling: Even though sea levels have risen, many 
islands haven't shrunk. Most, in fact, have been stable. Some have even grown.

One study that rounded up scientists' data on 709 islands across the Pacific 
and Indian Oceans showed that nearly 89 percent either had increased in area or 
hadn't changed much in recent decades. Only 11 percent had contracted.

How an Island Has Changed

Two maps showing the changed land mass of the island, Kandahalagalaa, from 2005 
to 2023. It shrank from the East but expanded to the West.

Source: Paul S. Kench et al., Nature CommunicationsBy Jonathan Corum
To understand why, I spent time this past spring with a team of researchers in 
the Maldives as they collected data on two key pieces of the puzzle: ocean 
currents and sand.

Currents and waves can erode sandy shorelines, of course. But they can also 
bring fresh sand ashore from the surrounding coral reefs, where the remains of 
corals, algae, crustaceans and other organisms are constantly being crushed 
into new sediment. (Another source of sediment? Colorful parrotfish, which 
munch on coral and churn out white sand from their digestive tracts.)

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June:

Avalanches Strand Dozens In Chile

Utah's Snowiest Two-Year Period On Record

Canada Hit With Extremes

Swiss Glacier Recovery

Ski Season Delays In S. America After Record Snow

Coldest Start To Winter In Decades For Parts Of Australia

Polar Blast Hits Australian Alps

Montana's Record Lows and Snows

Fresh Snowfall Hits Northwestern Peaks

Cold Records Fall In Montana And Alberta

Frosts Hit The Aussie Tropics

Queensland Freeze Breaks 32-Year Record

Record Cold British Columbia

New Study Identifies Antarctica's Record Winter Cold

More Monster Snowfalls Hit South America

Eastern Aussies Shiver

Unusual Summer Cold And Snow To Sweep America

Feet Of June Snow Hit Fonna, Norway As Europe Turns Blue

Eastern Australia Shivers

Record June Snow In The Alps

Summer In Japan Arrives a Little Late

Europe Chills

It Was A Cold May For Many
Heavy Snow Hits Northeast Iceland
UK Enduring A Historically Cold June
Frosts on June 11
Summer Snow In Northern India
50 Billion Tons Of Snow Has Fallen On Greenland So Far In June
Snowstorm In Himalayas Kills At Least 9
Snow Hits Parts of South Africa For First Time In 40 Years
Scotland Sees Snow
Global Temperature Drop (of COURSE... Hunga Tonga's Water Vapour!)
Warnings Issued In South Africa For "Disruptive Cold And Snow"
Coldest May Lows In 70-Years Hit Wagnerite, Australia
Argentina Abnormally Cold
Almost 7-Feet of June Snow Traps Hikers In German Alps
Snow Set For Scotland
Rare Frost Advisories In Ontario
It's Snowing In Northern India
Spring Freeze "Sharply Reduces" Russia's Wheat Harvest
Summer Skiing In Europe After Record-Breaking Spring Snow
Record Cold Strikes Japan
Frigid Streak At The South Pole
Low Olive Harvest In Greece Due To 'Weather Shifts'
Greenland's Record Ice Gains
Colder-Than-Average May In Europe
South America Freezes
U.S. Ski Industry Reports 5th-Best Season On Record
"Deep, Drifting Snow" Keeps Beartooth Closed
The Suess de Vries Cycle
Spring Anomalies From BC To SoCal
Winter Prolonged In Alaska
Australia's Cold And Snow
Chile's Weather Agency Got It Dead Wrong As South America Freezes
Spring Anomalies From BC To SoCal
Record May Cold Hits South Australia
Latest Snowfall In Decades At Snoqualmie
Frozen Turkey