According to Climate Central, “In the decades ahead, sea-level rise could disrupt economies and trigger humanitarian crises around the world”.
By 2050, #SeaLevelRise will push average annual coastal floods higher than land that is now home to 300 million people, according to a Climate Central study published today in @NatureComms Full report on the findings at: https://t.co/GHJR5jTRca #ClimateChange pic.twitter.com/r6llU7AEm3
— Climate Central (@ClimateCentral) October 29, 2019
Sea level rise is one of the best known of climate change’s many dangers. As humanity pollutes the atmosphere with greenhouse gases, the planet warms. As it does so, ice sheets and glaciers melt, and warming seawater expands, increasing the volume of the world’s oceans.
The consequences range from near-term increases in coastal flooding that can damage infrastructure and crops to the permanent displacement of coastal communities. Looking at human activities, sea levels could rise between 2 and 7 feet during the 21st century, or possibly even more. According to Climate Central,
“In the decades ahead, sea-level rise could disrupt economies and trigger humanitarian crises around the world”.
Asian Countries at high risk
India and other Asian countries, including Bangladesh and Indonesia, may see a five to tenfold increase in the population living below the projected high tide line by the end of the century.
Indonesia is already experiencing the effects of increased floods the government recently announced plans to move the capital city from Jakarta to Borneo. Jakarta, which sits on the island Java, is the fastest sinking city in the world. According to the researchers,
“Even with low carbon emissions and stable Antarctic ice sheets, leading to optimistically low future sea levels, we find that the global impacts of sea-level rise and coastal flooding this century will likely be far greater than indicated by the most pessimistic past analyses”.
Countries at High Risk of Sea-level Rise
California
Alameda, Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Newport Beach, La Jolla, and San Diego are all high-risk zones in the state.
1,300 square miles of land lie less than 3 feet above the high tide line in California, Oregon, and Washington. Among the high-profile beach properties in the state are a mansion on Billionaire’s Beach in Malibu, California.
