An isolated Hawaiian island has completely disappeared after a hurricane

Scientists who were studying a network of isolated islands in the Hawaiian archipelago were dismayed earlier this week when they discovered that one of their subjects had completely disappeared from the map, following a powerful storm that overwhelmed the masses. continental in the water.

The East Island, which spans 11 acres, was part of the French frigate Shoals – the largest atoll in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands – and was a victim of Hurricane Walaka, who hit the state with category 3 gales earlier this month. Observing the atoll with satellites, US Fish and Wildlife Service scientists discovered that Island Island was completely flooded with water, making it an almost invisible patchwork of sand.

Speaking with Honolulu Civil Beat, Chip Fletcher, professor of earth sciences at the University of Hawaii, termed the sudden disappearance of the island's "sacred moment". He reports that the event marks "another flaw in the network wall of the ecosystem diversity of this planet that is being dismantled". A team of marine debris is about to study the area this week, according to Civil Beat, in a bid to deliver a preliminary assessment of the damage.

Although small in size, East Island has fed a thriving ecosystem, with endangered monk seals, lush sea turtles and thriving native birds on a modest stretch, located 550 miles from Honolulu. The island apparently disappeared overnight, endangering the already fragile population of 1,400 monk seals around the world, many of which are proliferating in the region. In addition, French frigates are home to 96% of Hawaii's green sea turtles, half of which are nestled on East Island, according to the Huffington Post.

Charles Littnan, director of the protected species division of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told Huff Po:

"These little sandy islets are going to have a hard time persisting" in a warming world with rising seas. This event confronts us in the future. "

US Fish and Wildlife Service

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East Island was part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, which the Obama administration developed in 2016, making it "the largest fully protected conservation area under the flag of the United States," according to its website.

East Island is not the first landmass engulfed by the sea level of the rings. A 2011 study published in Environmental Research Letters documented the gradual disappearance of five Solomon Islands over a 70-year period. Scientists from Sunshine Coast University (Australia) observed a similarly similar phenomenon in Micronesia last year. This, they say, foreshadows a future situation increasingly dark for the inhabitants of the lower islands of the Pacific.

Source: Huffington Post via Honolulu Civil Beat

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