{"id":1331,"date":"2023-04-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/28-04-2023\/rising-sea-level\/"},"modified":"2023-04-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T00:00:00","slug":"rising-sea-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/28-04-2023\/rising-sea-level","title":{"rendered":"Rising Sea Level"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>In News<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong> &#8216;State of the Global Climate 2022\u2019 report <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">released by <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>WMO <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">highlighted that sea level is rising at an unprecedented rate.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>More about Report<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The rate of <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>global mean sea-level [GSML]<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> rise has doubled in three decades i.e., rate of sea-level rise was <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>2.27 mm\/year in 1993-2002<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, it shot up to <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>4.62 mm\/year in 2013-2022.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cfstatic.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/file_library\/mix_content\/457572853299990340_PDF_ORIGINAL.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Global mean temperature in 2022 was <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>1.15 \u00b1 0.13 \u00b0C<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> above the 1850-1900 average. The years 2015 to 2022 were the eight warmest in the instrumental record back to 1850.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cfstatic.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/file_library\/mix_content\/724709218927226200_PDF_ORIGINAL.png\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Ocean Heat content (OHC)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> in 2022 touched a new record high. Around 90% of the energy trapped in the climate system by greenhouse gases goes into the ocean.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">In 2022, 58 percent of the ocean surface suffered at least one marine heatwave event and 25 per cent of the surface experienced at least one marine cold spell.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> \u2013 carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide \u2013 reached record observed highs in 2021.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Earth\u2019s ice cover known as<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong> cryosphere has thinned<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">. The cumulative thickness loss since 1970 amounts to almost 30?m. Six of the ten most negative mass balance years on record (1950-2022) occurred since 2015<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Ocean Acidification<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">: Global mean ocean pH has been steadily declining at rates not seen for at least the past 26,000 years.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>What causes accelerated sea-level rise?<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">According to the report during 2005-2019:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cfstatic.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/file_library\/mix_content\/308651421973572900_PDF_ORIGINAL.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Impacts<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Increase inFrequency of cyclones: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">This will affect coastal communities and lead to large economic liabilities for tropical countries like India and South Africa, which have high population densities. For instance, South Africa was affected by five cyclones in over two months in 2022.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Salinization of Groundwater: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">More seawater could seep into the ground, leading to the groundwater \u2013 which is usually freshwater \u2013 turning more and more saline. This in turn can exacerbate water crises in coastal areas as well as agriculture in adjacent regions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Forced migration<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">: coastal ecosystems could be \u201ccompletely changed\u201d. In the Sundarbans delta in West Bengal, rising sea levels and coastal erosion has forced members of local communities to migrate.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Record breaking rain<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">: For instance, extensive flooding in Pakistan.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Record breaking heat waves<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> affected Europe during the summer. China had its most extensive and long-lasting heatwave since national records began<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Food insecurity<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">: As of 2021, 2.3 billion people faced food insecurity, of which 924 million people faced severe food insecurity.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"border-collapse:collapse; border:none; width:601px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border-bottom:1px solid #000000; border-left:1px solid #000000; border-right:1px solid #000000; border-top:1px solid #000000; vertical-align:top; width:601px\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Additional Reports and Data<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cfstatic.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/file_library\/mix_content\/90016365005802770_PDF_ORIGINAL.png\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"background-color:#fff2cc; border-bottom:1px solid #000000; border-left:1px solid #000000; border-right:1px solid #000000; border-top:1px solid #000000; vertical-align:top; width:601px\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>About World Meteorological Organization (WMO)\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 193 Member States and Territories.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The Secretariat, headquartered in Geneva.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), the roots of which were planted at the 1873 Vienna International Meteorological Congress.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It was established by the ratification of the WMO Convention in 1950, WMO became the specialized agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Source: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/rising-sea-levels-threaten-agriculture-rainfall-social-fabric\/article66781156.ece\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><strong><u>TH<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News The &#8216;State of the Global Climate 2022\u2019 report released by WMO highlighted that sea level is rising at an unprecedented rate. More about Report The rate of global mean sea-level [GSML] rise has doubled in three decades i.e., rate of sea-level rise was 2.27 mm\/year in 1993-2002, it shot up to 4.62 mm\/year [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[60,26],"class_list":["post-1331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-environmental-pollution-degradation","tag-gs-3"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1169725Screenshot_6.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}