Distant storms as drivers of environmental change at Pacific atolls.

The central Pacific Ocean with its many low lying islands and atolls is under threat from sea level rise and increased storm activity. Here, we illustrate how increasing frequency and severity of large scale storm events associated with global climate change may be particularly profound at the local...

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Main Authors: Jonathan P A Gardner, David W Garton, John D Collen, Daniel Zwartz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3909279?pdf=render
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spelling doaj-7ab28184c9bd4081a337eeac28451ec42020-11-25T01:52:54ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0191e8797110.1371/journal.pone.0087971Distant storms as drivers of environmental change at Pacific atolls.Jonathan P A GardnerDavid W GartonJohn D CollenDaniel ZwartzThe central Pacific Ocean with its many low lying islands and atolls is under threat from sea level rise and increased storm activity. Here, we illustrate how increasing frequency and severity of large scale storm events associated with global climate change may be particularly profound at the local scale for human populations that rely on lagoon systems for provision of a variety of goods and services. In August 2011 a storm originating in the Southern Ocean caused a large amplitude ocean swell to move northward through the Pacific Ocean. Its arrival at Palmyra Atoll coincided with transient elevated sea surface height and triggered turnover of the lagoon water column. This storm-induced change to the lagoon reflects long distance connectivity with propagated wave energy from the Southern Ocean and illustrates the increasing threats generated by climate change that are faced by human populations on most low-lying Pacific islands and atolls.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3909279?pdf=render
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Jonathan P A Gardner
David W Garton
John D Collen
Daniel Zwartz
spellingShingle Jonathan P A Gardner
David W Garton
John D Collen
Daniel Zwartz
Distant storms as drivers of environmental change at Pacific atolls.
PLoS ONE
author_facet Jonathan P A Gardner
David W Garton
John D Collen
Daniel Zwartz
author_sort Jonathan P A Gardner
title Distant storms as drivers of environmental change at Pacific atolls.
title_short Distant storms as drivers of environmental change at Pacific atolls.
title_full Distant storms as drivers of environmental change at Pacific atolls.
title_fullStr Distant storms as drivers of environmental change at Pacific atolls.
title_full_unstemmed Distant storms as drivers of environmental change at Pacific atolls.
title_sort distant storms as drivers of environmental change at pacific atolls.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
series PLoS ONE
issn 1932-6203
publishDate 2014-01-01
description The central Pacific Ocean with its many low lying islands and atolls is under threat from sea level rise and increased storm activity. Here, we illustrate how increasing frequency and severity of large scale storm events associated with global climate change may be particularly profound at the local scale for human populations that rely on lagoon systems for provision of a variety of goods and services. In August 2011 a storm originating in the Southern Ocean caused a large amplitude ocean swell to move northward through the Pacific Ocean. Its arrival at Palmyra Atoll coincided with transient elevated sea surface height and triggered turnover of the lagoon water column. This storm-induced change to the lagoon reflects long distance connectivity with propagated wave energy from the Southern Ocean and illustrates the increasing threats generated by climate change that are faced by human populations on most low-lying Pacific islands and atolls.
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3909279?pdf=render
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