Hawaii is running out of beaches. Or rather, Hawaii is losing the size and beauty of its beaches. And as the climate change will continue raising sea level, their precious print will eventually be a distant memory. For now, the islands are not going away, but continue, to watch their beautiful sunsets sailors will have to climb to the top of one of its volcanoes.

Geologists from the University of Hawaii have sounded the alarm. Climate change is causing sea level rise that threatens to decimate its wonderful beaches. Until now, a quarter of the sand island of Oahu has disappeared, while more than half of the beaches of Kauai, one of

In the coming decades, it is expected that global warming causes more rapid rising sea level. A climate impact that will change the face of their coasts, although the islands are also altered the landscape by the lava of Kilauea volcano, which is making them grow, adding more than 2 square kilometers of new land. In the words of Dolan Eversole, a geologist at the University of Hawaii:

The loss of beaches in Hawaii is alarming on many levels, and one of them is tourism. Many tourists come precisely because they seek its soft sandy coast. And these visitors spend millions of dollars each year, representing thousands of jobs.

But on the other hand, is the ecological loss. Disappearing beaches wreak havoc on the environment in many animals and plants that lose their habitats. The Hawaiian monk seal, an endangered species, for example, gives birth to their pups on beaches. Or the green turtle, another endangered species, lays eggs in the sand.

Currently, scientists are more concerned about the erosion of the beaches that the increase in sea level. According to Chip Fletcher, University of Hawaii, Hawaii scientists "have not yet seen an accelerated rate of sea level rise due to global warming."

However, it is expected to accelerate in the decades ahead, exacerbating the erosion of their shores. In 100 years, sea level is likely to be of at least 1 meter or 3.3 feet higher. Until then, the resulting erosion of factors, such as storms, human activity (construction of seawalls, jetties, etc.). Historical constant or rise in sea levels, dating from the 19th century.