One of the many effects of climate change is the expected rise of the sea-level. It is estimated to be a serious problem to some of the coastal cities across the globe.. However, even though the effects of the sea-level rise may not be seen at the moment, those cities may end up disappearing in the future. As displayed below from an article in The Guardian, “The three-degree world: the cities that will be drowned by global warming” the following chart shows that many of Asian cities would be affected by sea-level rise, and some coastal cities in China, such as Shanghai and Hong Kong are getting the worst effects by the sea-level rise.
www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2017/nov/03/three-degree-world-cities-drowned-global-warming
The article in the Guardian, also shows the detail of how unfavorably the rise of the sea-level can affect some well-known cities. In Osaka, Japan, the sea-level rise would affect 5.2 million people. The following picture displays the areas that would be affected by the sea-level rise, and these areas are where the majority of the Osakan population resides. Because Osaka is the economic center in Japan, the results of the sea-level rise can critically damage Japan’s economy.
www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2017/nov/03/three-degree-world-cities-drowned-global-warming
There is another city that would be affected even more terribly than Osaka by the sea-level rise: it is Shanghai, one of the major economic centers of China. From the following picture, we can see that Shanghai will completely cover by water if the sea-level keeps rising in the future. The city is surrounded by by Yangtze River and Huangpu River, and it is vulnerable when flooding occurs. The damage would be critical as the sea-level rise would affect 17.5 million people in Shanghai.
www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2017/nov/03/three-degree-world-cities-drowned-global-warming
In addition to Shanghai, Miami is another city that’s in jeopardy by flooding. The catastrophe would affect 2.7 million people.
www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2017/nov/03/three-degree-world-cities-drowned-global-warming
There are some other cities that are in danger because of the sea-level rise, and some are starting to act to prevent the worst possible outcome. . For example, Osaka is already have a series of seawalls and other coastal defense to engage the future threat, and in Shanghai the government has rolled out 40 billion yuan (5.76 billion USD) to start a River Flooding Discharge Project, and the city already developed the largest deep-water drainage system beneath the Suzhou Creek. In Miami, the government is trying to upgrade the pump stations, improve drainage, and raise seawalls to prevent the damage from the sea-level rise.
We always hear the sea-level would rise for a little every year. the threat may not seem to be threatening for now, but in time many of the coastal cities will disappeared in the future. And remember, the reason for the sea-level rise is climate change. The ongoing greenhouse gases causes the ice to melt and increase the sea-level. Therefore, controlling and reducing the emissions of GHGs will slow down global warming, and thus prevent the dangers of flooding for coastal cities.
Source:
Josh Holder, Niko Kommenda, Jonathan Watts; Nov 3, 2017, published on The Guardian
