The days of islands disappear under the waves are here . Hurricane Walaka , a monster storm thatroared through the Pacific Oceanearlier this month , wiped out a tiny Hawaiian island known for harboring green sea turtle and endangered monk seals .
scientist with the Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed the disappearance of East Island Monday , concord to the Honolulu Civil Beat , and the realization has been unsettling . The 11 - acre island site more than 500 air mile from O’ahu is nearly all subaquatic after Walaka tangle right over it .
This is a artificial satellite image of East Island taken Monday , weeks after encroachment :
Pacific Islands conk under has been a scary reality for quite some sentence : Kiribati ’s presidentbought ground in Fijifor his people back in 2014 so they ’d have a new abode when shit hits the rooter . Sea level rise is an take in Fiji , too , so one coastal village alreadymoved a bit more inlandin 2014 to ready .
Still , an island completely wash away by hurricane - strength wind and waves overnight ? That was n’t an arithmetic mean for scientists who frequent the island , per the Honolulu Civil Beat . Chip Fletcher , a University of Hawaii climate scientist , told the newspaper he anticipate sea level ascent to overtake East Island some 10 from now . The island is part of theFrench Frigate Shoals , an atoll with a coral Rand area that stretches more than 232,000 acres as part of thePapahānaumokuākea National Monument , the largest protected conservation area in the U.S.
There ’s a reason these water are protected : The corals and associated atolls are home to a various raiment marine aliveness , including the endangered monk seal and a threatened Hawaiian population of green sea turtles which come to the French Frigate Shoals to nest . East Island , in fact , has thehighest densityof green turtle nesting sites in Hawaii .
scientist have yet to draw connections between Hurricane Walaka and climate change , but powerful , rapidly deepen hurricanes like it are consistent with what we expect to see more of in a warmer man .
This time , East Island was the victim . Where will be next ?
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