Global warming increases risk of tsunamis

TSUNAMIS will become more likely with global warming, scientists have warned, after a study found that sea level rises will increase the risk of coastal cities being wiped out.

Smaller earthquakes that currently pose no serious tsunami threat could unleash waves capable of inundating such cities, researchers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) found in a study focusing on the city of Macau in China, which is considered safe from tsunamis, despite lying within a major earthquake zone.

At today’s sea level, it would take a very powerful earthquake tipping past magnitude 8.8 to cause widespread tsunami flooding in Macau.

But a half-metre rise in sea level – predicted to occur in the region by 2060 – could more than double the chances of a huge tsunami swamping the territory, according to the research.

A 3ft rise, expected by 2100, would increase the risk up to 4.7 times. The source of the earthquake danger is the Manila Trench, a massive crack in the floor of the South China Sea.

The team’s findings are reported in the journal Science Advances.