A new study and mapping visualization tool by the organization Climate Central says hundreds of millions more people than previously thought live in coastal flooding risk zones.
The oceans are undergoing sweeping, severe, and unavoidable changes. Sea level rise, extreme weather events, and changing marine ecosystems are becoming a fact of life, particularly affecting coastal communities — making understanding and measuring the ocean an essential step towards ensuring our relationship with the ocean is sustainable and resilient. Accurate, global data like that provided by the Copernicus Marine Service will be increasingly vital if we are to make well-informed decisions as we adapt to Earth’s changing ocean and climate.
As a shocking new report finds that many coastal cities will be flooded by rising sea levels by 2050, Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera announced Wednesday that the U.N. Climate Summit in Santiago has been canceled. Anti-inequality protests have entered their third week in the country with protesters calling for the Piñera government to resign. The U.N. said it is now looking for an alternative venue for the annual climate meetings. Meanwhile, a dire new report has warned 300 million people are at risk from rising sea levels, with the most vulnerable populations concentrated in the Global South. According to the study published in Nature Communications, global sea levels are expected to rise between two and seven feet or possibly more, with some coastal cities being wiped off the map. We speak with Harjeet Singh, the global lead on climate change for Action Aid who is based in New Delhi, India; and Benjamin Strauss, co-author of the study in Nature Communications and CEO and chief scientist at Climate Central.
