inundation

This could lead to inundation of sewage works and potential flooding of homes, roads and open spaces.

The inundation decimated farmland already ravaged by a series of storms.

Much of that 19th century system survives, in updated form — and its vulnerability to inundation has been only partly countered by the pre-Olympics cleanup binge.

Professor Mona Webber from the University of the West Indies added: "It is very important for Caribbean Islands being affected by the sargassum inundation to be able to benefit from its valorization. Understanding how the sargassum we collect in Jamaica has changed en route to our shores and factors that could affect especially the arsenic content, will propel us towards safe use of the algal biomass."

He later added that "it is one significant step along the path of Antarctic ice sheet collapse and major inundation of our coastlines. A worrying sign that really does underscore the urgency of climate action."