Study: Sea water to inundate Pacific isles sooner Study: Sea water to inundate Pacific isles sooner ADVERTISING HONOLULU — Low-lying atolls in the Pacific Ocean will likely be inundated by sea water sooner than previously anticipated as the planet warms,
Study: Sea water to inundate Pacific isles sooner
HONOLULU — Low-lying atolls in the Pacific Ocean will likely be inundated by sea water sooner than previously anticipated as the planet warms, a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey suggests.
Researchers studied Midway Atoll and Laysan Island in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument for their report, and demonstrate the problems rising sea level pose for seabirds, Hawaiian monk seals, green sea turtles and other wildlife that live there.
But both places have landforms and coastal features common to many islands in the Pacific, however, and scientists say the findings are also important for people who live in the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and other low-lying Pacific island groups.
Earlier research suggested the atolls would remain above sea level for the next 50 to 150 years, research oceanographer Curt Storlazzi of the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center said in a news release Thursday. But a model accounting for storm wind and wave action suggests rising sea levels will affect the islands sooner.
“By taking wave-driven processes into account, we forecast that many of the atolls will be inundated, contaminating freshwater supplies and thus making the islands uninhabitable, much sooner,” Storlazzi said. The study didn’t give specific dates.
The new modeling method forecasts at least twice as much land will be inundated on Midway and Laysan compared to earlier research.
The USGS says the models offer tools to forecast where salt water may damage agricultural land and contaminate groundwater.
Showers could lead to flash flooding
HONOLULU — The state Department of Emergency Management says a flash flood watch has been issued beginning Friday afternoon.
The agency says a cold front approaching from the northwest will trigger increased showers, which at time could become heavy. The National Weather Service in Honolulu says the flash flood watch has been issued for Oahu, Kauai and Niihau.
The watch means that conditions could lead to flash flooding, which can be dangerous.
The agency is encouraging residents to closely monitor the latest forecasts.
The watch is in place until 6 a.m. on Sunday.
Virgin American plans Hawaii service
HONOLULU — Virgin America is planning to expand its service to Hawaii in 2015.
Airline spokeswoman Jennifer Thomas told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in an email that it hopes to bring service to Hawaii when it adds more Airbus A320s to its fleet. The planes are equipped with Sharklets, or wing tips, which improve fuel efficiency and enable the jet to make extended trips over water.
The A320 with Sharklets can reach Hawaii from the West Coast.
The airline will be adding 10 Airbus jets with Sharklets to its fleet from 2015 to 2016.
Schatz election campaign raises $1.1 million in 1Q
HONOLULU — U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz’s election campaign has raised over $1.1 million in the first quarter.
The campaign announced Thursday that the money primarily came from individual donors and that nearly 80 percent of donations were from within the state.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie in December appointed Schatz to fill the vacancy created by the death of Sen. Daniel Inouye even though it went against Inouye’s dying wish to have Democratic U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii replace him. Schatz was Abercrombie’s lieutenant governor.
Schatz said in a statement that he is grateful for the support he’s received in his first three months in office.
Schatz faces an election in 2014, which will determine who serves the rest of Inouye’s original term through 2016.
Coast Guardsmen selected for awards
HONOLULU — Two Coast Guard members have been selected to receive 14th Coast Guard District awards.
The Coast Guard says Petty Officer 2nd Class Erich J. Klinger is an aviation survival technician assigned to Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu. Petty Officer 2nd Class Juan Taijeron is a boatswains mate assigned to Station Apra Harbor on Guam.
Klinger and Taijeron have been chosen to receive the 14th Coast Guard District’s enlisted and reserve enlisted person of the year awards.
Coast Guard officials say Klinger has been involved in 10 search and rescue missions and saved three lives. Taijeron is a crew member aboard one of the Coast Guard’s newest response vessels and has assisted in 141 missions.
The two now compete for national awards with winners to be announced later this spring.
Man who died while snorkeling identified
WAILUKU, Maui — The man who may have drowned while swimming with his wife off Mauai’s Kamaole Beach Park was from Washington.
The Maui News reports that police have identified the man who died Tuesday as 49-year-old Glen Burlingame of Vancouver.
Police say the couple was snorkeling 10 to 15 yards offshore at about 10:45 a.m. when the wife turned and saw her husband floating face down in the water. Lt. Jayson Rego of the Criminal Investigation Division says Burlingame’s wife swam back to shore with him, where bystanders helped bring him to the beach and began efforts to revive him.
County lifeguards and firefighters arrived and continued CPR efforts but Burlingame died at the scene.
