Seabird guano and native trees keep islands above rising seas: Study

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe claim under review: bird droppings and native trees can help low-lying tropical islands keep up with rising seas.

2. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorFinally, a sea wall that comes with its own fragrance and a loyal customer base.

3. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorMongabay reports a new study used data from twenty-eight atoll islands in the Seychelles, the Chagos Archipelago and Tetiaroa in French Polynesia.

4. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorEvidence for: reef growth on rat-free islands with lots of seabirds was one point five to one point eight times faster than on rat-infested ones.

5. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorRats were the main reason seabirds had vanished from some islands. The rat-free Chagos islands were full of birds.

6. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorSo the birds didn't leave. They were evicted.

7. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe catch: that reef finding holds for sea-level rise projected under two degrees of warming, through twenty-one hundred.

8. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSea level is already rising faster than the long-term average.

9. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorThen I'm unveiling the Bonk-o-Meter, rated from Mildly Bonkers to Full Bonkers. Hank, the envelope, please.

10. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIt's Mildly Bonkers. Droppings really do help, but only with the trees, the birds and the rats gone. The lead author says that's the plan.