An international team of scientists found that rising sea levels due to global warming threaten to flood American military bases and settlements located in the Pacific Ocean, including the Marshall Islands. This is reported by Science Alert.
Under the Free Association Treaty, the US military has the right to conduct military action and operations on land, water, and in the airspace of the Marshall Islands. So, on the island of Roy Namur, which is part of the Kwajalein Atoll, there is a base with 1,250 troops, which belongs to the Reagan test site. Here, using radar systems, they track the entry of space objects into the Earth's atmosphere, including enemy missiles and missile defense penetration means. The maximum height of the island above sea level is only 1.8 meters.
Oceanographers estimate that the rate of sea level rise is currently 3.2 millimeters per year, and Roy Namur will not be flooded, at least for this century.
The results of a new study showed that sea water pollution of the island's aquifers will occur when the sea level rises by 40 centimeters. Since the beginning of the 2000s, the growth has already amounted to five to six centimeters, but the ingress of salt water into fresh water sources or complete flooding may occur even earlier due to frequent tropical cyclones.
Scientists believe that a critical moment will come between 2030 and 2050, when typhoon floods will become so frequent that fresh water will disappear from Roy Namur and other islands. According to the researchers, there will be a need to relocate citizens of the Marshall Islands and the military. In addition, expensive equipment will be damaged, such as the $ 1 billion Space Fence radar facility currently under construction, which is designed to track space debris that threatens satellites and astronauts.
According to Hilda Hine, President of the Marshall Islands, the people of the Republic have no doubts about the reality of global climate change, as roads and populated areas are increasingly flooded. The government is building protective walls, but these measures are not enough. The situation is aggravated by the fact that coral reefs, which act as natural breakwaters, are also being eroded by acidification and rising ocean temperatures.