United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday that rising sea levels threaten to unleash “a rising tide of misery” for millions of people, with the risk of severe storm surges, coastal erosion and flooding increasing.
“Low-lying coastal areas are home to some 900 million people. Rising sea levels mean a rising tide of misery,” he said at a summit on the threats posed by sea level rise.
“Greenhouse gases, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels, are warming our planet, causing seawater to expand and ice to melt.”
Since the early 20th century, global sea level has risen faster than in any previous century in at least the last 3,000 years, and the rate of rise is still increasing.
According to a study by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, five countries (the Maldives, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, Nauru and Kiribati) will become uninhabitable by 2100. This will lead to 600,000 stateless climate refugees.
Guterres warned of “flooded communities, polluted freshwater, ruined harvests, damaged infrastructure, devastated biodiversity and decimated economies – with sectors such as fisheries, agriculture and tourism severely affected.”
“We cannot leave the hopes and aspirations of billions of people in the water.”
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