This article presents an analysis of shoreline change in all 101 islands in the Pacific atoll nation of Tuvalu. Using remotely sensed data, change is analysed over the past four decades, a period when local sea level has risen at twice the global average (~3.90 ± 0.4 mm.yr−1). Results highlight a net increase in land area in Tuvalu of 73.5 ha (2.9%), despite sea-level rise, and land area increase in eight of nine atolls.
This paper highlights the seriousness of the “biodiversity crisis” on atolls and the need to place greater research and conservation emphasis on atolls and other small island ecosystems. It is based on studies over the past twenty years conducted in the atolls of Tuvalu, Tokelau, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. It stresses that atolls offer some of the greatest opportunities for integrated studies of simplified small-island ecosystems.
Hajime KAYANNE, Masashi CHIKAMORI, Hiroya YAMANO, Toru YAMAGUCHI, Hiromune YOKOKI and Hiroto SHIMAZAKI 2005
Padma Lal, Kalesoma Saloa and Falealili Uili 2006
IWP-Pacific Technical Report (International Waters Project) no. 36
Yoko Osawa, Kazuhiko Fujita, Yu Umezawa, Hajime Kayanne, Yoichi Ide, Tatsutoshi Nagaoka, Toshihiro Miyajima, Hiroya Yamano 2010