The United Nations has warned that sea levels have been rising rapidly since 1900, putting the lives of 900 million people at stake.
The AP news agency, citing the head of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said that the continuous rise in sea level has caused serious threats to Bangladesh, China, India and the Netherlands.
Addressing a meeting of the Security Council, Antonio Guterres said sea levels would continue to rise even if global warming was “catastrophically” brought down to 1.5 degrees Celsius, an international target.
He warned that this situation is a ‘death sentence’ for countries that are weak and close to the sea. These include small countries that are on islands.
Apart from countries at risk, he also mentioned some big cities that will also face serious impacts.
These include Cairo, Lagos, Maputo, Bangkok, Dhaka, Jakarta, Mumbai, Shanghai, London, Los Angeles, New York and Santiago.
The head of the United Nations declared that even one degree is dangerous for global warming, saying that if the temperature increases by two degrees Celsius, the sea level may double and the temperature may increase.
Antonio Guterres cited the Meteorological Organization’s statistics as “very alarming.”
“Since 1900, global sea levels have risen more than they have in three thousand years.”
According to him, the temperature of the seas has also increased during the last century as much as it has not increased in the last 11 thousand years.
Referring to statistics, he said that even if the temperature is 1.5 Celsius, sea level will rise by two to three meters globally in the next two thousand years.
“A rise of just two degrees Celsius would increase the sea level by six meters (19.7 feet), while a rise of five degrees would increase the level by 22 meters (72 feet).”
He further said that ‘Our world is passing through the threshold of temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius and it is dangerous to even think about its consequences.
