Media too quick to blame 'climate change'

Newsrooms around the world blamed climate change after a new study spotlighted the disappearance of five islands in the Pacific Ocean, but the study's author says those reports are exaggerated.

"All these headlines are certainly pushing things a bit towards the 'climate change has made islands vanish' angle. I would prefer slightly more moderate titles that focus on sea-level rise being the driver rather than simply 'climate change'," one of the report's chief researchers, Dr. Simon Albert, told the Guardian.

The study, which was published last weekend, observed changes to 33 reef islands in the Solomon Islands over a 67-year period. Researchers found that of the 33 monitored islands, six have corroded, and five have disappeared altogether. The study concluded that the five islands disappeared due to a combination of sea-level rise and "high wave energy."

To non-scientists, sea level rise and climate change have become synonymous, even though scientists themselves see it differently, the Guardian explained. Albert said sea-level rise in the area of the Pacific Ocean he studied has risen twice as fast as the global average, and said trade winds caused by climactic cycles are also a major factor.

These details became blurred, however, as newsrooms immediately pegged "climate change" as being responsible for the vanishing act.