Tsunamis aren’t just bigger-than-average waves. Triggered by undersea earthquakes or volcanic eruptions like the one in Tonga, they are fast, massive and potentially destructive. Here’s why.
Mangroves grow in saltwater along tropical coastlines, but scientists have found them along a river in Mexico’s Yucatan, more than 100 miles from the sea. Climate change explains their shift.
The Army Corps of Engineers is planning a sea wall 6 miles long and flood gates. The infrastructure might protect downtown from a hurricane storm surge, but most of the area will still be vulnerable.
Joël Guiot, Aix-Marseille Université (AMU) and Wolfgang Cramer, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
The Mediterranean region, with its biodiversity, climate, demographics, and economic activities such as tourism, agriculture and fisheries, is particularly vulnerable to environmental risks.
Healthy seagrasses form underwater meadows teeming with fish and shellfish. A successful large-scale restoration project in Virginia could become a model for reseeding damaged seagrass beds worldwide.
Michael Beck, University of California, Santa Cruz and Pelayo Menéndez, University of California, Santa Cruz
A new study estimates that mangroves prevent over $65 billion in damage from coastal storms every year, and says mangrove protection should be funded in the same way as infrastructure like seawalls.
Research into public health benefits of integrating nature into cities has focused on green spaces. New studies suggest water features are just as useful and can piggyback on other infrastructure goals.
The IPCC report says extreme sea level events that used to hit once a century will occur once a year in many places by 2050. This situation is inevitable, even if emissions are dramatically curbed.