- Dr. John Holdren, president of American Association for
the Advancement of Science, predicts a possible 4-meter sea level rise
by end of the century,16 and Dr. James Hansen, NASA’s head of
Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has stated the likelihood of a
5-meter sea level rise by end of the century.17 (2006, 2007, respectively.)
- A
sea level rise of even 1 meter would result in over 100 million
climate refugees and endanger major cities like London, Cairo, Bangkok,
Venice, New York, and Shanghai.18
- Examples of countries affected by sea level rise:
- Âu
Lạc (Vietnam). At the nation’s rice bowl region, the Mekong Delta,
ocean salt water has encroached an unprecedented 60 kilometers up-river
in 2010, threatening 100,000 hectares of rice.19
- Thailand. Seawater is expected to reach Bangkok’s ground level in 25 years. 20(GEodetic Earth Observation Technologies for Thailand: Environmental Change Detection and Investigation, 2010)
- Egypt. More than 58 meters of coastline have vanished every year since 1989 in Rasheed.21 (Omran Frihy of the Coastal Research Institute, 2010)
- Sea
level rise caused at least 18 island nations to completely disappear
while many more coastal areas are continually threatened.22 More than 40 other island nations are at risk from rising sea levels.23
- Sea
level rise threatens half of the world's population living within 200
kilometers of a coastline. Already, low-lying coastal regions and
deltas see effects: 17 million in Bangladesh have fled their homes,
mainly because of coastal erosion. Groundwater sources are contaminated
by saltwater in Israel and Thailand, small island states in the
Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Caribbean Sea, and in some of the
world's major deltas, such as the Yangtze Delta and Mekong Delta.24
Reference
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- Dias, B.B., Hart, M.B., Smart, C.W. and Hall-Spencer, J.M. (2010). Journal of the Geological Society, London, 167, 1-4. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/gsl/views/page8336.html - Romm, J. (2009, February 17). So much for geoengineering, 2: Ocean dead zones to expand, “remain for thousands of years”. An article on Shaffer’s et al. publication in Nature Geoscience. Climate Progress blog. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://climateprogress.org/2009/02/17/so-much-for-geoengineering-2-ocean-dead-zones-to-expand-remain-for-thousands-of-years/ - Hance, J. (2008, August 14). Marine ‘dead zones’ double every decade. An article on scientists’ report in the journal Science. Mongabay.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0814-hance_hypoxia.html
- Forrest, A. (2010, September 20). Killer algae. The Big Issue. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.bigissuescotland.com/features/view/365
- Hattam, J. (2010, July 24). Massive Algae Bloom Spreading Across Baltic Sea. treehugger. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/07/massive-algae-bloom-spreading-across-baltic-sea.php - ibid 135.
- Worst coral death strikes at SE Asia (2010, October 19). Australian Research Council [ARC] Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from ARC website http://www.coralcoe.org.au/news_stories/regionalbleaching.html
- Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (2010, November 3). Earth’s climate change 20,000 years ago reversed the circulation of the Atlantic Ocean. PHYSORG.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-earth-climate-years-reversed-circulation.html
- Gagosian, R.B. (2003, January 27). Abrupt Climate Change: Should We Be Worried? Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?cid=9986&pid=12455&tid=282
- Scientists Find 20 Years of Deep Water Warming Leading to Sea Level Rise (2010, September 20). NOAA. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100920_oceanwarming.html - Butler, R.A. (2005, September 6). Ocean gas hydrates could trigger catastrophic climate change. An article on research presented at the Annual Conference of the Royal Geographical Society. Mongabay.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0906-gas_hydrates.html
- Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research [CSIRO], the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (2008, June 19). Ocean Temperatures And Sea Level Increases 50 Percent Higher Than Previously Estimated. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080618143301.htm
- Connor, S. (2010, May 20). Man-made climate change blamed for ‘significant’ rise in ocean temperature. The Independent. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/manmade-climate-change-blamed-for-significant-rise-in-ocean-temperature-1977669.html
- Boyce, D.G., Lewis, M.R., Worm B. (2010, July 29). Global phytoplankton decline over the past century. Nature, 466, 591–596. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v466/n7306/abs/nature09268.html
- Holdren, J. (2006, August 31). Top scientist’s fears for climate. BBC. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5303574.stm
- Hansen, J.E. (2007, May 24). Scientific reticence and sea level rise. IOPScience. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/2/2/024002/fulltext - Gillis, J. (2010, November 13). As Glaciers Melt, Science Seeks Data on Rising Seas. The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/science/earth/14ice.html?_r=3&ref=global-home - National Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Centre (2010, March 5). VIETNAM: Record drought threatens livelihoods. IRIN. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88320
- Geodetic Earth Observation Technologies for Thailand: Environmental Change Detection and Investigation (2010, November 16). Agency needed to deal with ‘sinking Bangkok’. Asia News Network. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20101116-247471.html - Sea level rise threatens Egypt’s Nile Delta & Alexandria. (2010, November 15). An article on Omran Frihy of the Coastal Research Institute study. Reuters. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/11/15/126221.html
- Wynn, G. (2009, September 30). Two meter sea level rise unstoppable: experts. Reuters. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE58S4L420090930 - Alliance Of Small Island States (2009, June 30). Climate Institute. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://www.climate.org/climatelab/Alliance_Of_Small_Island_States - Feeling the Heat (n.d.). United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC]. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://unfccc.int/essential_background/feeling_the_heat/items/2905.php
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