Key Point
- The UN Secretary-General has warned the Security Council about rising sea levels.
- He said about 900 million people living near water are at risk.
- The Australian Institute says Australia is already affected.
The United Nations warns of mass exodus due to rising sea levels caused by climate change.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council that big cities on all continents would face severe impacts, including Lagos, Bangkok, Mumbai, Shanghai, London, Buenos Aires and New York.
Guterres said rising water levels would spark new types of conflicts in which people, businesses or countries fight over land.
“We will see a massive exodus of the entire population on a biblical scale, and an ever-increasing competition for fresh water, land and other resources,” he said. rice field.
Guterres said rising sea levels jeopardize access to water, food and healthcare.
About 900 million people live in low-lying coastal areas, or about 1 in 10 people on the planet, at greatest risk.
“I have seen firsthand how people in the small island developing states of the western Pacific face sea level rise up to four times the global average.
“In the Caribbean, rising sea levels are hurting local livelihoods in the tourism and agricultural sectors.”
He noted that rising sea levels are already “forcing” some relocations, including in Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
Houses affected by rising sea levels in the village of Veivatuloa, 35 kilometers west of Suva, Fiji. sauce: AAP / Mick Tsikas/AAPIMAGE
Polly Hemming of the Climate and Energy Program at the Australian Institute told SBS News how she witnessed first-hand the effects of rising sea levels in the Torres Strait in northern Australia.
“I visited the Torres Strait Islands in 2010 and saw how the sea was eroding people’s homes and ancestral homes,” she said.
“Gravestones in the cemetery were cracked and scattered on the beach.
“That was 13 years ago, and if the modeling that TSRA was doing at the time was correct, the Torres Strait sea level had risen about 8cm.
“I hate to think about what I look like now.”
Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) About the impact of climate change on the land.
One of the effects is that drinking water becomes unusable due to salt pollution from rising sea levels. As a result, contaminated land becomes uninhabitable and Torres Strait Islanders are forced to migrate to mainland Australia as climate refugees.
Hemming said Australia must halt new coal and gas projects to combat rising sea levels.
“Australia is one of the world’s largest fossil fuel exporters and has a role to play in the absolute disruption caused by rising sea levels.
“If you think this is bad, things will get worse.
Hemming said the UN report was “clear” that halting new fossil fuel projects in Australia should be “a top priority if we are serious about tackling climate change.” “It’s a great focus,” he said.
According to recently released information Since 1900, global mean sea level has risen faster than in any century in the last 3,000 years.
It warns that even if global warming were limited to 1.5 degrees, global sea levels would still rise significantly.
The same study found that the burning of fossil fuels has been responsible for “the majority” of sea level rise since the late 20th century.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/mass-exodus-on-a-biblical-scale-un-warns-new-york-london-shanghai-to-be-impacted-by-rising-sea-levels/ihyrm9c4r UN warns New York, London and Shanghai will be affected by rising sea levels
