article thumbnail

Earthquakes hastened sea rise in Pacific islands by sinking the ground

New Scientist

Projections of flood risk due to sea-level rise on the Samoan islands underestimate the rate at which the islands are sinking after two earthquakes hit in 2009

Sea Level 119
article thumbnail

The Riddle of the Maldives

Legal Planet

In the run-up to the Copenhagen climate negotiations in 2009, President Mohamed Nasheed held a cabinet meeting in scuba gear 20 feet underwater to show what awaited the low-lying island nation of the Maldives if serious action were not taken to reduce greenhouse gases. It was the site for one of the most iconic climate policy photos.

Sea Level 130
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

2023 appears to follow an upward trend in the North Atlantic/Caribbean named tropical cyclone count

Real Climate

The number of North Atlantic/Caribbean named tropical cyclones in and the estimates based on the area with sea surface temperature above 25.6°C C (Benestad, 2009). 635-645, 2009. But it appears to follow a historical trend for named tropical cyclones with an increasing number over time. References R.E. Blunden, T. Boyer, and E.

2023 213
article thumbnail

“Fighting for Inches” in the Southeast’s Struggle With Salt

Circle of Blue

Despite promising adaptation strategies, sea level rise is projected to drown tens of thousands of acres of farmland within the century. Atlantic sea levels are rising three to four times faster than the global ocean average. Saltwater intrusion on Chalmers’ rice paddies is forcing him to look for land elsewhere.

Sea Level 321
article thumbnail

Degradation of coastal regions in the Pacific Islands

Our Environment

Rising sea levels and increased intensity of storm surges are playing a considerable role in the degradation of coastal regions in the Pacific Islands. Illustrating the variation in sea levels from 1993 – 2018. Photo credit. Written by: Jack McCulloch. Shows a generally increasing trend. Source: NASA (August 2018).

article thumbnail

G20 still paying billions in fossil fuel subsidies

A Greener Life

The G20 group of nations provided nearly US$200 billion in support of fossil fuels in 2021, despite the worsening impacts of the climate crisis and their pledge in 2009 to phase out “inefficient” subsidies. Subsidies reached new highs in 2021, even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a Climate Transparency analysis finds.

article thumbnail

We Crossed 1.5 C. Did We Breach the Paris Agreement?

Legal Planet

C, stated at the 2009 COP in Copenhagen and adopted one year later – which was also a non-binding goal – would leave many of them inundated by sea level rise. In fact, the 1.5 language was added at the insistence of the highly climate-vulnerable small island states, who recognized that the previous target of 2.0