--- description: Six other islands have lost large areas of land to the sea, displacing entire villages title: Solomon Islands: 5 Islands Disappear as Pacific Ocean Rises image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf190bc929259f287/69889290f887dccbace95ca4/solomon-islands-climate-change.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 5 Pacific Islands Lost to Rising Sea Levels by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 10, 2016 1:21 PM CUT  The remains of one of six partially eroded islands in the nation of Solomon Islands, Oct. 2013. The remains of one of six partially eroded islands in the nation of Solomon Islands, Oct. 2013.Simon Albert—Reuters by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 10, 2016 1:21 PM CUT Five of the Solomon Islands have disappeared into the Pacific Ocean due to [rising seas](http://time.com/4234290/sea-level-rise-preparation/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") and erosion, in what Australian researchers say is the first major effect of climate change on the coastlines and people of the Pacific. The Solomon Islands archipelago has seen annual sea levels rise as much as 0.4 inches, according to research [published in _Environmental Research Letters_](http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/5/054011 "undefined"). Using aerial footage, radiocarbon dating of trees and traditional knowledge, researchers discovered that five tiny islands that existed in 1947 had completely disappeared by 2014. On top of the uninhabited, submerged islands—which range in size from 2.5 to 12.4 acres—six other islands have seen chunks of land washed into the sea, forcing entire villages on two of them to be relocated. One of the islands affected was Nuatambu, which lost half its habitable area since 2011, including 11 houses. The [Solomon Islands](http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/10/five-pacific-islands-lost-rising-seas-climate-change "undefined") is a nation made up of hundreds of islands, with a population of about 640,000 people. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4324321/solomon-islands-pacific-ocean-sea-levels/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4324321/solomon-islands-pacific-ocean-sea-levels/"},"headline":"5 Pacific Islands Lost to Rising Sea Levels","datePublished":"2016-05-10T13:21:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:25:06.870Z","description":"Six other islands have lost large areas of land to the sea, displacing entire villages","url":"https://time.com/4324321/solomon-islands-pacific-ocean-sea-levels/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf190bc929259f287/69889290f887dccbace95ca4/solomon-islands-climate-change.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf190bc929259f287/69889290f887dccbace95ca4/solomon-islands-climate-change.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The remains of one of six partially eroded islands in the nation of Solomon Islands","caption":"The remains of one of six partially eroded islands in the nation of Solomon Islands, Oct. 2013.","creditText":"Simon Albert—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4324321/solomon-islands-pacific-ocean-sea-levels/","name":"5 Pacific Islands Lost to Rising Sea Levels"}}]}] ```