Sea-level rise ‘may cross two metres by 2100’

(Eco Business, 13 Oct 2022) Most islands in the Pacific are subsiding, presenting a challenge to infrastructure due to low adaptative capacity to climate change.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) recommends raising to two metres, instead of the existing one metre, the imaginary waterline demarcation for projects in the Asia Pacific region to improve the resilience of structures against rising sea levels.

An ADB report presented during the bank’s annual board meeting (26-30 September) warns that sea levels in the Asia-Pacific could exceed two metres by 2100 due to the double whammy of sinking land mainly due groundwater withdrawal as well as the warming of the oceans as a result of climate change. The report draws on hydrographic records and geological evidence dating back several hundred years.

“Based on observed data collected since 2000, most islands in the Pacific Island region are subsiding. Therefore, the effect of sea-level rise will be magnified where the land is falling,” said the study.

Anthony Kiem, author of the study and professor of hydro-climatology at the University of Newcastle, Australia, says that sea-level rise in the Asia Pacific region is expected to worsen climate change impacts and presents a challenge to new and existing critical infrastructure.

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Eco Business, 13 Oct 2022: Sea-level rise ‘may cross two metres by 2100’