Reborn beaches are tsunami’s silver lining

A devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit south central Chile in 2010 triggered a reappearance of long-forgotten habitats and a resurgence of species unseen for years along the country’s sandy beaches.

Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Marine Science Institute (MSI) and Universidad Austral de Chile were able to document the before-and-after ecological results of these cataclysmic occurrences.

A new paper appearing in the journal PLoS One points to the potential effects of natural disasters and also reveals a preview of the problems caused by sea level rise—a major symptom of climate change.

http://www.futurity.org/earth-enviro...silver-lining/