Sea level rise is accelerating in the United Kingdom, making the coastline more vulnerable, notes a report from the British Meteorological Office published Thursday, July 28 and highlighting the current effects of climate change.
This study, based on the observation of the climate and weather events for the year 2021, notes the impact of the global rise in temperatures on the climate in the United Kingdom, stressing that “climate change is not just a problem for the future and that it is already influencing the conditions we experience here at home“.
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A doubled elevation rate
In the UK, recent decades have been warmer, wetter and sunnier than in the 20th century. Since the 1900s sea level has risen by around 16.5cm in the UK and the rate of sea level rise around the country has doubled in a century to 3.0- 5.2 mm each year against 1.5 mm at the beginning of the century. Among the reasons for rising sea levels is the melting of glaciers in the Greenland and Antarctic ice caps. “Our long-term records show that over recent decades the rate of sea level rise in the UK has increasedsaid Dr Svetlana Jevrejeva, from the National Oceanographic Center. This phenomenon threatens coastal areas, she notes: “As sea levels rise, storms can cause greater impacts“.
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Due to its insular nature, the United Kingdom is particularly exposed to coastal erosion. A recent report by the British Environment Agency estimated that one in six people were at risk of flooding due to rain or rising seas and that one million people would be directly affected by rising sea levels. the sea by the end of the century. In terms of temperatures, the UK continues to warm at a rate broadly comparable to but slightly higher than global temperature increases, with the last decade being 1.0°C warmer than the 1961-1990 period. . The maximum temperature recorded in 2021 in the country was 32.2°, a relatively low peak. But if the temperatures recorded last year may seembanalMike Kendon, lead author of the report, points out that “if it had happened just over three decades ago it would have been one of the hottest years on record in the UK“.
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