"Northern swells may cause inundation in northern atolls and north-facing shores. Hazardous conditions for swimming and sailing in small crafts due to crashing waves and stronger than usual currents due to swells." National Weather Service
Offshore cyclonic storm surge barreled across islands and atolls in the Marshall Islands. Significant damage in the island chain, including the United States Bucholz Army Base, Iata ta kwa icao pkwa faa lid kwa in Marshallese, located on the Kwajalein Atoll, the world’s largest atoll. The atolls and islands are roughly halfway from Australia to the Hawaiian Islands. Three other islands also lost airports. Remarkably, no one was killed; one was injured.
Kwajalein Island is the missile testing range headquarters and is located about 40 miles to the south at the other end of the atoll.
There were two waves in the clip below, the second higher and more powerful than the first. Elevation in the atoll is at 3-6 feet.
Climate change and global warming were the culprits in these rogue waves. The rising sea level and increasing wave height and power are directly linked to greenhouse gas emissions.
US Department of Defense climate study
A 2018 US Department of Defense climate study that focused on Roi-Namur Island concluded that "the impact of sea-level rise inundation combined with annual wave-driven flooding will begin to significantly negatively impact Roi-Namur when mean sea level is 0.4 meters higher than at present".
Repeated flooding of the low-lying island by seawater during storms "will be of sufficient volume to make the groundwater non-potable year-round", and at this level of flooding, the isthmus that connects the two islands, Roi and Namur, "will be flooded annually, negatively impacting the facilities in those locations".
The 2018 study was conducted by the US Geological Survey, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Deltares, and University of Hawaii.
It said the "tipping point" for when potable groundwater on Roi-Namur will be unavailable due to extreme flooding, in the worst-case scenario, could be reached before 2035. The report indicated the outside best-case scenario was 2055-2065.
"Even if the groundwater supply was supplemented or replaced with another source (e.g., desalinization or delivery of freshwater from elsewhere), the annual wave-driven flooding will disrupt operations on Roi-Namur," the report concluded.
Peter Dutton is a despicable human being. Google him.
To be clear, Micronesians have contributed zero to the burning of fossil fuels. I call this climate injustice in the extreme. The world doesn’t even provide them with climate refugee status; no nation is obligated to provide them with a new home.
Donald Trump is doing what he does best at 6:22.