A series of unusual tides on South Africa’s West Coast could be the result of a “mini-tsunami,” according to news reports this week. The news of the strange tides, which reportedly caused waves that damaged factories in St. Helena Bay, corresponded with an unrelated prediction by environmental experts that Africa’s coast could be underwater by 2099.
South African experts Monday told reporters they suspected a small, but effective Atlantic Ocean tsunami was responsible for wreaking tidal havoc in several West Coast locales over the weekend, according to News24.com, a South African online news site. It’s possible the tsunami could be the cause of similar phenomena on the Southern and Eastern Cape, as well, experts stated.
Coincidentally, environmental experts attending a working meeting of U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in Ghana on Monday warned climate issues and melt from the Greenland ice cap could swamp large portions of Africa’s coast before the end of the century. Current sea-level rise of about two centimeters per year is putting much of Nigeria, as well as the capitals of Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Mauritania on track for future flooding, according to a U.N. Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) release.
Read more about the mini-tsunami at News24.com. The IRIN article can be found at at the organization's website.
Jolie Breeden is the lead editor and science communicator for Natural Hazards Center publications. She writes and edits for Research Counts; the Quick Response, Mitigation Matters, Public Health, and Weather Ready Research Award report series; as well as for special projects and publications. Breeden graduated summa cum laude from the University of Colorado Boulder with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.