Tuvalu is Rising, Not Shrinking

Tuvalu, the poster child for sea level rise, is not shrinking but rather is actually growing! Tuvalu's prime minister has said that Tuvalu was 'the world's first victim of climate change,' and that 'the greenhouse effect and sea level rise threaten the very heart of our existence.' ¹ How wrong he was!

Over the years there have been several articles about the island of Tuvalu and the claims of sea level rise causing it to disappear, while at the same time folks were building new hotels and airports to attract tourists. ² Doomsayer Al Gore predicted that residents would have to evacuate their homes because of rising seas.³ Now, a study confirms what hat been reported previously—atolls, and in particular Tuvalu, are growing and increasing in land area. So much for climate alarmism says Anthony Watts.² Paul Kench and colleagues analyzed shoreline change in all 101 islands in the Pacific atoll nation of Tuvalu. Results highlight a net increase in land area of 2.9% in eight of nine atolls. 4 This was a follow-on of earlier work by Kench and others that had showed land area gains not only for Tuvalu but the Marshall Islands and a number of other Pacific Islands. ⁵ These results challenge perceptions of island loss, showing islands are dynamic features that will persist as sites for habitation over the next century.² References

1. Patrick J. Michaels, Meltdown, (Washington, DC, Cato Institute, 2004), 203
2. Anthony Watts, “Remember when the islands of Tuvalu were going to be inundated by sea level rise? Never mind....”, wattsupwiththat.com, February 9, 2018
3. Nils-Axel Morner, “Rising credulity,” spectator.co.uk, December 3, 2011
4. Paul S. Kench et al., “Patterns of island change and persistence offer alternate adaptation pathways for atoll nations,” Nature Communications, 9, 605, 2018
5. Murray R. Ford and Paul S. Kench, “Multu-decadel shoreline changes in response to sea level rise in the Marshall Islands,” Anthropocene, 11, 14, September 2015

Jack Dini——Bio and Archives John William Dini, know to all as ‘Jack’, passed away at the age of 89 on June 17, 2026. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio on Nov. 14, 1936. He published two books, a technical book on materials science and coatings and another on environmental issues. In retirement, he wrote extensively on various environmental issues for online publications. He was a skilled leaded glass hobbyist, creating more than 20 lamps and many panels. He was a jogger for many years, competing in over 300 long distance races. He was a slow runner, not wanting to take the glory away from others. His secret was to start slow and taper. He and Anne traveled extensively, visiting over 70 countries. He is survived by his wife, Anne, of 67 years, and sons Mike, Steve, and Paul. If you were to meet him somewhere, he would sum up his life as ‘peaches and cream’.