Editing Midway Atoll (section)

===2011 tsunami===
The [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami]] on March 11 caused many deaths within the bird community on Midway.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/albatrosses-tsunami/ |title=Midway's Albatrosses Survive the Tsunami |author=Brandon Keim |magazine=Wired |date=March 15, 2011 |access-date=March 15, 2011 |archive-date=March 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316102608/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/albatrosses-tsunami/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was reported that a {{cvt|1.5|m|ft|adj=on}} -tall wave completely submerged the atoll's reef inlets and Spit Island, killing more than 110,000 nesting [[seabird]]s at the [[Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge|National Wildlife Refuge]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Tsunami washes away feathered victims west of Hawaii |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/18/tsunami.birds.deaths/?hpt=C2 |work=CNN |date=March 19, 2011 |access-date=March 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725071238/http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/18/tsunami.birds.deaths/?hpt=C2 |archive-date=July 25, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Scientists on the island, however, do not think it will have long-term negative impacts on the bird populations.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Hiraishi |first1=Tetsuya |title=Field Survey of the Damage Caused by the 2011 Off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami |date=2013-07-10 |work=Natural Disaster Science and Mitigation Engineering: DPRI reports |pages=37–48 |publisher=Springer Japan |doi=10.1007/978-4-431-54418-0_4 |isbn=9784431544173 |last2=Yoneyama |first2=N. |last3=Baba |first3=Y. |last4=Azuma |first4=R.}}</ref>

A [[U.S. Geological Survey]] study found that the Midway Atoll, Laysan, and Pacific islands like them could become inundated and unfit to live on during the 21st century, due to increased storm waves and [[sea level rise|rising sea levels]].<ref>"[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=storm-surges-rising-seas-could-doom-pacific-islands-this-century ''Storm Surges, Rising Seas Could Doom Pacific Islands This Century''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414225907/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=storm-surges-rising-seas-could-doom-pacific-islands-this-century |date=April 14, 2013 }}: Atolls and other low-lying islands in the Pacific Ocean may not slip under the waves but they will likely become uninhabitable due to overwashing waves" [[ClimateWire]] and [[Scientific American]] April 12, 2013</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Storlazzi |first1=Curt D. |last2=Berkowitz |first2=Paul |last3=Reynolds |first3=Michelle H. |last4=Logan |first4=Joshua B. |title=Forecasting the Impact of Storm Waves and Sea-Level Rise on Midway Atoll and Laysan Island within the Papa hānaumokuākea Marine National Monument — A Comparison of Passive Versus Dynamic Inundation Models |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2013/1069/of2013-1069.pdf |website=U.S. Geological Survey |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=6 April 2018 |date=2013 |archive-date=November 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115041423/https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2013/1069/of2013-1069.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>