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Media coverage of threat to atoll islands from rising seas and wave-driven flooding

By Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center May 7, 2018

A deluge of media coverage followed publication of a USGS-led study showing that sea-level rise and wave-driven flooding could make many low-lying atoll islands uninhabitable by the mid-21st century by contaminating freshwater aquifers and damaging infrastructure. The study appeared April 25 in Science Advances, and dozens of outlets reported it.

News article written in Hungarian featuring a colorful photo of very small islands surrounded by limitless ocean.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.
On April 27, 2018, Hungarian digital news outlet 24.hu published an article about a new USGS study showing that sea-level rise and wave-driven flooding could make many low-lying atoll islands uninhabitable by the mid-21st century by contaminating freshwater aquifers and damaging infrastructure. The headline reads: "Within a few decades, many islands may become uninhabitable."

Some of those media outlets are:

Overseas coverage included:

One science writer in the UK wrote a poem about the research. The U.S. Department of Defense provided most of the funding and will use the results to plan for sea-level rise impacts on military installations in the Pacific.

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