…a new report from the University of Hawaii’s Sea Grant program states that islands in the Pacific might be unrecognizable in the coming years as climate change makes them hotter, arid, stormy and even disease-ridden.
Disease-ridden? Yes. Diseases like cholera and dengue fever which thrive in hot climates might become commonplace.
But the biggest scariest part of the study tells us that
Perhaps the most obvious change around the state will be the rise in sea levels, which have risen about 0.5-1.3 inches per decade throughout the last 100 years. The study projects this rate to accelerate, resulting in a 1-foot to 3-foot rise (or possibly more) by 2100.
There’s a nifty interactive map at the link which shows a worst-case scenario of a 6-foot sea level rise. If that were to happen Waikiki would flood, downtown Honolulu would be under water, and the ocean would reach as far inland as Moilili, the neighborhood between Waikiki and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
If you’re going to come visit us, make it soon.