GENEVA, April 21 (Reuters) – Sea levels are rising twice as fast as in the first decade of measurements (1993-2002) and hit a new record high last year, the World Meteorological Organization said. (WMO) Friday.
Extreme glacier melting and record-breaking ocean heat – which causes water to expand – have contributed to an average sea level rise of 4.62mm per year between 2013 and 2022, the agency said. UN in a report detailing the ravages of climate change.
This is about twice as much as in the first decade on record, 1993-2002, a total increase of more than 10cm since the early 1990s.
Rising sea levels threaten some coastal cities and the very existence of low lying states like the island of Tuvalu which plans to build a digital version of itself in case it is submerged.
“This report shows that once again, greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere continue to reach record highs, contributing to warming land and oceans, melting ice caps and glaciers, sea level rise, and ocean warming and acidification,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a foreword.
The annual report, released on the eve of Earth Day, also shows that sea ice in Antarctica retreated to record levels in June and July. The oceans experienced unprecedented temperatures, and about 58% of their surface experienced a marine heat wave.
Climatologists have warned that the world could break a new average temperature record in 2023 or 2024, due to climate change and the anticipated return of the El Niño phenomenon. (Report Emma Farge, French version Victor Goury-Laffont, edited by Tangi Salaün)
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