New research has cast doubt on warnings that rising sea levels caused by climate change are slowly inundating low-lying Pacific islands. Scientists have studied 27 low-lying Pacific islands, comparing aerial photos from 60 years ago with modern satellite images, according to an article published Wednesday in The New Scientist. Paul Kench of the University of Auckland in New Zealand and Arthur Webb at the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission in Fiji found only four of those 27 islands had declined in size despite an average rise in sea level of 12 centimetres (4.7 inches) during the 60-year period. Half of the rest had remained the same size and the other half had increased in size. Kench told AFP Thursday the study shows that islands respond in different ways to climate change and rising seas.

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