A study published by the site specialized in scientific news, Science News, reported last week that by 2100 waves will break 2,4 times larger than they do now because of rising sea levels and dying corals caused by global warming.

The research was carried out by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, published in its journal Science Advances, and compared current sea level with what is estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projections along with the expected behavior of reefs at four sites with different wave energy near French Polynesia, Moorea and Tahiti.

The conclusion showed that if projections hold, waves breaking on reefs will be 2,4 times larger in 2100 than today. “This change would be largely due to the decline of coral reefs coupled with rising sea levels. Coastal communities around the world will likely see similar increases in wave height, depending on reef structures and the degree of sea level rise,” the note said.

Based on this, the researchers stressed the importance of caring for reefs as something crucial to protect coastal communities in a changing climate, as we will experience in the future.

They add that today “a complex coral reef full of nooks and crannies is the best defense of the coast against the big waves of the ocean (…) The rough and complex structures of coral reefs dissipate the energy of the waves through friction, these arrive with less force to the shore. As corals die due to the warming of the oceans, the overall complexity of the reef also decreases, thus leaving a potentially more exposed coast.”

Waves twice as big as what you see in the video?