A billion people are at risk from sea level rise says UN
MORE than a billion people are at risk from rising sea levels caused by global warming, a UN-backed report warned yesterday.
Mankind faces “sweeping and severe” consequences from rapidly warming oceans and melting icesheets, which could lead to sea level rises of three feet.
The changes will threaten anyone living in coastal regions by 2100, said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change review.
Warming oceans will also affect fish stocks and species such as penguins and walruses, the study said.
The report, put together by more than 100 experts, based on 7,000 scientific studies, said that “unprecedented” changes including urgently” reducing greenhouse gas emissions could reduce the impact of manmade climate change.
One of the report’s authors, Dr Jean-Pierre Gattuso, said: “The blue planet is in serious danger right now, suffering many insults from many different directions. It’s our fault.”
IPCC chairman Hoesung Lee said: “If we reduce emissions sharply, consequences for people and their livelihoods will still be challenging, but potentially more manageable for those who are most vulnerable.” The report was released as Arctic sea ice levels reached their second lowest figure on satellite record.
But at the New York Climate Action Summit, the world’s biggest polluters failed to produce realistic plans to cut emissions.
Last week, about four million campaigners took part in “climate strikes” worldwide to try to force world governments to take action.
Earlier this week, TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough urged global leaders to unite to save the planet.
He said: “It could not be more important and far-reaching. What we do in the next few years will determine the next few thousand years.” Climate change is blamed on the release of greenhouse gases from practices such as the burning of fossil fuels, livestock farming and the melting of Arctic permafrost, which can release huge amounts of methane.
Gases such as carbon dioxide and methane trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere so that it warms the planet.
The World Wide Fund for Nature’s Ester Asin said: “The Arctic is melting at record speed and so are our chances of fighting the climate crisis.
“We must listen to the science, which tells us what the people are demanding – that we need a response from our leaders, and need it now.”