According to the new study published by Nature Communications, by 2050, the rising sea level will eliminate 300 million homes. Additionally, high tides may permanently rise above land, effecting 150 million people. The number could increase to 630 million by the year 2100 if carbon emissions do not decrease. New estimates mean rising seas causing more damage, cost more money and affecting communities.
The C40 group of 94 global megacities used IPCC and World Bank figures mentioning 1.6 billion people living in 970 world cities will be exposed to extremely high temperatures by 2050.
Furthermore, the report says 2.5 billion people will live over 1,600 cities where national food supplies will be threatened by the climate crises, including cities like- Athens, Barcelona, and Istanbul.
Increase in the Sea-Level
Some of the reasons behind the rise in sea level are- increase in the pollution further causing ice sheets and glacier melting. This sea-level increase will also affect the likelihood of coastal flooding damaging infrastructure and destroy crops. The majority of the people who are going to be affected are from China, India, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Indonesia is already facing the problem due to increased flooding. The government announced plans to shift the capital city Jakarta to Borneo. Jakarta is currently sinking than the faster rate.
The Optimistic Side
Even though the report is quite negative, there is some optimistic side. According to Dr. Benjamin Strauss, co-author of the study, "For all of the critical research that's been done on climate change and sea-level projections, it turns out that for most of the global coast we didn't know the height of the ground beneath our feet. Our data improve the picture, but there is still a great need for governments and aerospace companies to produce and release more accurate elevation data. Lives and livelihoods depend on it."
The UN Climate change report released in September highlighted these severe rising waters.
