Rising sea levels threaten China<\/p>\n
BEIJING (UPI): An alarming rise in sea levels is threatening
\ncentral China's Yangtze River Delta, one of the country's fastest
\ngrowing and prosperous regions, the official media reported
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
Sea levels along the coasts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces,
\nwhere the delta is located, are expected to rise 40 centimeters
\n(16 inches) by the year 2030 and 70 centimeters (28 inches) by
\n2050, two times the global average, the Xinhua news agency said,
\nquoting experts at the Pacific Science Congress in Beijing.<\/p>\n
The levels compared with average annual rises worldwide of 1
\nto 2 millimeters (.04 to .08 inches) over the past century and
\nChina's national average over the period of 1.4 millimeters (.056
\ninches) per year.<\/p>\n
The latest warning follows a report last month that sea levels
\nrising some 2.19 millimeters (.087) every year are endangering
\nthe economically booming Pearl River Delta in southern China and
\nthe cities of Guangzhou and Zhuhai.<\/p>\n
Zhu Jiwen, with the Nanjing Institute of Geography and
\nLimnology, blamed the phenomenon on global warming and geological
\nshifts, which he said would push world sea levels up by 50
\ncentimeters over the next 15 years, the report said.<\/p>\n
At that time, China's sea levels could rise more than four
\ntimes the world rate.<\/p>\n
\"The densely populated and well-developed Yangtze Delataic
\narea will be one of the regions most vulnerable to a sea level
\nrise in the 21st century,\" Zhu said.<\/p>\n
His report stressed the plight of Shanghai, located where the
\nYangtze River meets the sea, which is sinking rapidly under the
\nweight of construction activity and the depletion of its ground
\nwater table.<\/p>\n
Since 1991, the ground surface of China's largest city has
\nsubsided at a rate of 8 to 10 millimeters (.32 to .40 inches) a
\nyear, almost double the annual rate of 5.2 millimeters (.208
\ninches) between 1986 and 1990.<\/p>\n
During the 1950s and 1960s, the annual rate soared to 100
\nmillimeters (4 inches).<\/p>\n
According to Zhang Guijia of Tongji University in Shanghai,
\nrising sea levels in the metropolis have increased threats from
\nstorms and left ineffective flood control measures designed to
\ncounter sea water flooding and promote the drainage of rain water
\nand sewage.<\/p>\n
He said Shanghai's dikes were designed to withstand the
\nhighest tides recorded during a 1,000-year historical period. But
\na 50 to 70-centimeter (20 to 28-inch) rise in sea levels by the
\nyear 2050 would lower the protective rating of the structures to
\nthe 100-year period.<\/p>\n
Shanghai and Guangzhou are two of five Chinese cities
\nimperiled by the effects of global warming, according to a report
\nreleased in March by China's National Environmental Protection
\nAgency, the United Nations Development Program and the World
\nBank.<\/p>\n
The report warned that by 2050, rising sea levels could
\nthreaten 92,000 square kilometers (36,800 square miles) of land
\n-- an area the size of Portugal -- and displace 76 million people
\n-- more than the population of the Philippines.<\/p>\n
While China is a major victim of climactic changes resulting
\nfrom the greenhouse effect, it is also one of the world's biggest
\ncontributors to the problem, due to its dependence on coal for 76
\npercent of its energy needs.<\/p>",
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