Excerpt and Photo from phys.org
University of Sydney researchers have found 25% of Australia’s coral islands, land masses formed by reefs, currently face high to very high risk of being wiped out by climate change.
The findings, published in the latest edition of the journal Science of the Total Environment, identified that all of the 56 investigated Australian coral islands are exposed to some degree of climate risk but that three small, unvegetated coral islands in Western Australia, on Scott, Clerke and Imperieuse reefs, are the most vulnerable.
Lead researcher Dr. Tommy Fellowes from the School of Geosciences said, “The fate of low-lying coral reef islands and their associated reef ecosystems hangs in the balance, threatened by the compounding effects of climate change—rising sea levels, warming oceans, intensifying storms and acidification.”
“We quantified the risks to Australia’s coral islands for the first time and our findings make clear the urgent need to address these threats and the vulnerable state of these islands.