{"id":30912,"date":"2024-10-16T18:05:30","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T12:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=30912"},"modified":"2024-10-16T18:05:32","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T12:35:32","slug":"coastal-flooding-due-to-rise-in-sea-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/16-10-2024\/coastal-flooding-due-to-rise-in-sea-levels","title":{"rendered":"Coastal Flooding Due to Rise in Sea Levels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Environment Degradation; Disaster Management<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Global warming is <strong>raising sea levels<\/strong> and making flooding more common in some areas.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Researchers have held them responsible for <strong>discouraging the growth of plants of many tree species in coastal areas.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The study paper has reported that <strong>a rising sea and coastal flooding <\/strong>could actually <strong>enhance the resilience of some coastal tree species<\/strong> while being <strong>detrimental to others.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>One species in particular, the <strong>American holly (Ilex opaca)<\/strong>, responded by increasing the rate at which it grew \u2014 while loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) and pitch pine (Pinus rigida) trees <strong>suffered under higher water levels.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cause: <\/strong>The tree rings consist of water vessels. When a tree is exposed to a lot of rain along with appropriate levels of sunlight and ambient temperature, it also develops more water vessels.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>But a heavy downpour and a deluge would disrupt this process altogether and prevent the plant from growing normally.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Sea-level Rise Accelerating<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sea levels were increasing by around <strong>2 mm\/year in 1993<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This rate has since<strong> doubled<\/strong> and climate researchers expect floods in coastal areas will increase<strong> threefold by 2050<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reason:<\/strong><strong>Climate change <\/strong>brought on by <strong>fossil-fuel burning<\/strong> and <strong>greenhouse gas emissions <\/strong>has led to a steady increase in global temperatures.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As a result, <strong>sea surface temperatures and glacier<\/strong> melting have increased, eventually rising sea levels and posing a major threat to coastal cities worldwide, including Indian coastal cities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Climate Change<\/strong><br>&#8211; Climate change refers to <strong>long-term shifts in global or regional climate patterns.<\/strong>\u00a0<br>&#8211; It&#8217;s primarily <strong>driven by human activities, <\/strong>such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial processes, <strong>which release greenhouse gases<\/strong> like <strong>carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane into the atmosphere.\u00a0<\/strong><br>&#8211; These gases trap heat, causing the Earth&#8217;s temperature to rise\u2014<strong>a phenomenon known as global warming.<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>Impact:<\/strong> It threatens the essential ingredients of good health \u2013 clean air, safe drinking water, nutritious food supply and safe shelter \u2013 and has the potential to undermine decades of progress in global health.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concerns with Increase in Sea Level<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Flooding: <\/strong>It leads to more frequent and severe flooding in coastal areas, threatening infrastructure, homes, and livelihoods.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Displacement: <\/strong>Rising seas force communities to relocate, leading to displacement and potential conflicts over resources.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Saltwater Intrusion: <\/strong>Salinity contaminate freshwater sources, affecting drinking water supplies and agriculture.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic Impact:<\/strong> Coastal industries, such as fishing and tourism are severely impacted, leading to job losses and economic instability in affected regions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Biodiversity Loss:<\/strong> Ecosystems like mangroves and coral reefs are threatened, impacting biodiversity and the services these ecosystems provide.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Health Risks: <\/strong>Flooding leads to the spread of waterborne diseases.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Efforts to Combat Climate Change<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Renewable Energy Expansion:<\/strong> India has set ambitious targets for renewable energy generation, aiming to increase its capacity significantly.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It has invested heavily in solar and wind energy projects, with the goal of reducing reliance on fossil fuels and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>International Commitments:<\/strong> India is a signatory to the Paris Agreement, committing to reduce its carbon intensity and increase the share of non-fossil fuel energy sources in its total energy mix.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It has announced its aim to meet<strong> 50% of its electricity demands from renewable energy sources by 2030.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Afforestation and Forest Conservation:<\/strong> Recognizing the role of forests in carbon sequestration and climate regulation, India has initiated programs to increase forest cover, restore degraded lands, and promote sustainable forest management practices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Clean Transportation:<\/strong> India is promoting the<strong> adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and has set a target of 30% EV market share by 2030.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The government has introduced incentives and subsidies to support the production and adoption of EVs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Climate Resilience:<\/strong> India is investing in measures to enhance climate resilience and adaptation, particularly in vulnerable sectors such as agriculture, water resources, and coastal areas.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>International Cooperation: <\/strong>India actively participates in international forums and collaborations on climate change, engaging in initiatives such as the <strong>International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/coastal-flooding-harms-different-tree-species-differently-study\/article68755491.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Global warming is raising sea levels and making flooding more common in some areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30912","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\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30912"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30913,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30912\/revisions\/30913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}