Rise
in the sea level due to the changing climatic conditions is a concern
many of the countries are facing in the current times. Small islands and
coastal areas are at a threat of being gobbled up by the sea water
soon. Tide gauges which were previously used to predict the level of sea
water rise is now taken over by high quality satellite measurements and
from these measurements it can be observed that, the ocean water which
was increasing 2mm every year till the year 2000, is now increasing by
4mm. A total of 75mm rise in sea level was predicted from 1991 to 2019.
What Causes a Rise in The Sea Level?
Our
planet has become warmer than in the past. One can see that there is a
significant increase in the earth’s average temperature which has led to
extreme climatic changes. This increase in temperature is nothing but
Global warming and its impact is certainly felt on our oceans today.
Firstly,
it melts down the ice sheets and glaciers which are needed to maintain
the sea water balance. This happens by a process called greenhouse
effect, wherein the loss of large masses of ice from the earths surface
warms up the water, as sun’s energy gets trapped in the oceans and warms
up the water. Secondly, this trapped heat causes thermal expansion of
water which means the sea water volume expands and can also flood
coastal cities. Thirdly global warming reduces the water from the land
surface of earth. So, water from our lakes and reservoirs are getting
dried up which in turn leads to drought. So global warming is a serious
condition which is depleting out water resources day by day.
A
recent UN climate report also states that, the decade from 2010 to 2019
had the warmest climate on record and this global warming makes it
difficult to keep the average global temperature below 2°C.
Even
a one-degree rise of water and earth’s temperatures, is enough to cause
major damage to our eco system and people’s lives. The fracturing of
glacier in the Antartica region due to the warm climate, the loss of 329
gigatones of the Greenland ice sheet in the year 2019, the loss of
marine life and coral reefs due to high acidification and deoxygenation
in the oceans, bushfires caused in Australia, peak summers which
affected countries like United Kingdom, Germany , France, Finland and
even the Artics in the year 2019, and the altering ocean currents are
some of the alarming real life situations, which were caused by a spike
in sea and global temperatures in the recent times and requires some
immediate attention.
Also,
greenhouse gases are impacting our oceans in a big way. Oxygen is as
important in water as its on land. But as the heat trapped in the
atmosphere makes the sea temperature go warmer day by day, there is a
loss of oxygen which makes it difficult for the marine life to survive
and hunt for their living. Corals which act as a home for marine life
breeding are also getting affected due to coral bleaching, which in turn
is caused by ocean acidification.
Floods
and droughts are also common drawbacks of the changing climate. While
countries like the US, Iran, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar
experienced some heavy floods with high economic and human losses,
countries like Australia, South Africa, Central and South America had
dry weather and lower rains than average. Thousands of people have died
from hunger, dengue and natural disasters like cyclones and storms as a
reason of global warming and the extreme climatic changes.
Our
oceans have always helped sustain human and animal life for a long
time. They have acted as a buffer to protect us from extreme climatic
changes. But taking care of them in the current generation is our
responsibility. So let us act together and save our oceans as they have
been doing it for us. Read more continue
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