8/1/2023 0 Comments See finance 2 torrent![]() ![]() The Greenland ice cap is melting even faster - losing 270 billion tons per year.Īnd consider the hundreds of millions of people living in the river basins of the Himalayas. Somalia is also grappling with saltwater intrusion, contributing to competition over scarce freshwater resources.Īnd around the world, a hotter planet is melting glaciers and ice sheets.Īccording to NASA, Antarctica is losing an average of 150 billion tons of ice mass annually. In North Africa, saltwater intrusion is contaminating land and freshwater resources, destroying crops and livelihoods alike. Rising seas and other climate impacts are already forcing some relocations in Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and elsewhere.įlooding and coastal erosion in West Africa are damaging infrastructure and communities, undermining farming and often costing lives. In the Caribbean, rising seas have contributed to the devastation of local livelihoods in the tourism and agriculture sectors. I have seen with my own eyes how people in Small Island Developing States in the Western Pacific are facing sea-rise levels up to four times the global average. Some coastlines have already seen triple the average rate of sea-level rise. The danger is especially acute for nearly 900 million people who live in coastal zones at low elevations - that’s one out of ten people on earth. Mega-cities on every continent will face serious impacts including Lagos, Maputo, Bangkok, Dhaka, Jakarta, Mumbai, Shanghai, Copenhagen, London, Los Angeles, New York, Buenos Aires and Santiago. Under any scenario, countries like Bangladesh, China, India and the Netherlands are all at risk. If temperatures rise by 2 degrees, that level rise could double, with further temperature increases bringing exponential sea level increases. Meanwhile, the WMO tells us that even if global heating is miraculously limited to 1.5 degrees, there will still be a sizeable sea level rise.īut every fraction of a degree counts. The global ocean has warmed faster over the past century than at any time in the past 11,000 years. Global average sea levels have risen faster since 1900 than over any preceding century in the last 3,000 years. The World Meteorological Organization has just released a new compilation of data that spells out the grave danger of rising seas. ![]() It can damage or destroy vital infrastructure - including transportation systems, hospitals and schools, especially when combined with extreme weather events linked to the climate crisis.Īnd rising seas threaten the very existence of some low-lying communities and even countries. Saltwater intrusion can decimate jobs and entire economies in key industries like agriculture, fisheries and tourism. Rising seas threaten lives, and jeopardize access to water, food and healthcare. Sea-level rise is not only a threat in itself.įor the hundreds of millions of people living in small island developing states and other low-lying coastal areas around the world, sea-level rise is a torrent of trouble. I thank the government of Malta for shining a light on the dramatic implications of rising sea levels on global peace and security. Ian Borg, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade of Malta, Excellencies, ![]()
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