SEA LEVELS UP 4.5MM PER YEAR DURING 2013-22, SEVERAL BIG CITIES AT RISK

Underlining how climate change-linked rise in sea level poses a threat to countries like India, China, Bangladesh and the Netherlands, World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said the rise has been 4. 5mm per year during 2013-22.
It could continue through this century, recording a total rise of 0. 6m by 2100, as compared to 1995-2014 level, even under the low greenhouse gas (GHG) emission scenario.
This will affect not only small island nations but also big coastal cities.
Several big cities on all continents are threatened, such as Shanghai, Dhaka, Bangkok, Jakarta, Mumbai, Maputo, Lagos, Cairo, London, Copenhagen, New York, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and Santiago. It is a major economic, social and humanitarian challenge.
It said human influence (activities) was the main driver of the rise since 1971 compared to the rise of 1. 3mm peryear between 1901-1971. Global mean sea-level has risen faster since 1900 than over any preceding century in at least the last 3000 years.
Rising temperatures are contributing to it through melting of polar ice sheets and glaciers.
The danger is especially acute for 900 million people who live in coastal zones at low elevations and also for assets worth up to $14. 2 trillion by 2100 within the coastal floodplains.

Sea-level rise is a threat multiplier

WMO findings noted how even if global heating is limited to 1. 5
o Celsius by 2100, there will still be a sizeable rise in sea level.
Referring to Nasa’s findings that Antarctica is losing an average of 150 billion tonnes of ice mass annually and the Greenland ice cap is losing 270 billion tonnes per year.
Over time, Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers will shrink.
And rising sea levels combined with a deep intrusion of saltwater will make large parts of their huge deltas simply uninhabitable.

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB

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