Rising Seas Threaten China's Sinking Coastal Cities

Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press National Geographic News 17 Jan 08;

Sea levels off Shanghai and other Chinese coastal cities are rising at an alarming rate, leading to contamination of drinking water supplies and other threats, China's State Oceanic Administration reported Thursday.

Waters off the industrial port city of Tianjin, 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Beijing, rose by 7.72 inches (20 centimeters) over the past three decades, the administration said.

Seas off the business hub of Shanghai have risen by 4.53 inches (11.5 centimeters) over the same period, the report said.

Administration experts said global climate change and the sinking of coastal land due to the pumping of ground water were the major causes behind rising water levels.

Salt in the Aquifer

"Sea level rises worldwide cannot be reversed, so Chinese city officials and planners must take measures to adapt to the change," Chen Manchun, an administration researcher, was quoted as saying on the central government's official web site.

Globally rising seas threaten to submerge low-lying island groups, erode coastlines, and force the construction of vast new levees. Scientists have warned that melting of the vast glaciers of Greenland will cause a significant rise in sea levels.

Higher sea levels and sinking land caused by dropping water table levels complicate Shanghai's already difficult task of providing safe water supplies to its 20 million people due to salt water leaching into its aquifer, the administration said.

Along China's coastline, sea levels have risen by an average of 3.54 inches (9 centimeters), while average coastal water temperatures were slightly warmer, the report said.

Waters levels have risen more quickly in the country's north, the report said, but gave no reasons for the disparity.

Meanwhile, the administration's China 2007 Sea Environmental Quality Report, also released this week, showed a marked deterioration in coastal water quality as a result of pollution from onshore human activity.

China's coastal cities hit by rise in sea levels
Straits Times 18 Jan 08;

Waters off Shanghai surged by 115mm in 30 years, contaminating water supplies
BEIJING - SEA levels off Shanghai and other Chinese coastal cities are rising at an alarming rate, leading to contamination of drinking water supplies and other threats, China's State Oceanic Administration reported yesterday.

It said waters off the industrial port city of Tianjin, 100km south-east of Beijing, rose by 196mm over the past three decades.

Seas off the business hub of Shanghai rose by 115mm over the same period, the report added.

Administration experts said global climate change and the sinking of coastal land due to the pumping of groundwater were the major causes of the rising water levels.

'Sea level rises worldwide cannot be reversed, so Chinese city officials and planners must take measures to adapt to the change,' Mr Chen Manchun, an administration researcher, was quoted as saying on the central government's official website.

Globally, rising seas threaten to submerge low-lying island groups, erode coastlines and force the construction of vast new levees.

Some scientists have warned that melting of the vast glaciers of Greenland could cause a 4m rise in sea levels in the centuries to come.

Higher sea levels and the sinking of coastal land further complicate Shanghai's already difficult task of providing safe water supplies to its 20 million people due to salt water leaching into its aquifer, the administration said. An aquifer is an area of permeable rock which absorbs and holds water.

Along China's 18,000km of coastline, sea levels have risen by an average of 90mm, and average coastal water temperatures were slightly warmer, the report said.

Water levels have risen more quickly in the country's north, the report said, but it gave no reasons for this.

Meanwhile, the administration's China 2007 Sea Environmental Quality Report, also released this week, showed a marked deterioration in coastal water quality as a result of pollution from human activity onshore.

An Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report last month warned that Asia's massive delta cities have the most to fear from catastrophic storm floods driven by climate change.

Out of 136 port cities assessed around the world for their exposure to once-in-a-century coastal flooding, 38 per cent are in Asia and 27 per cent are located in deltas, the OECD said.

As many as 150 million people in the world's big coastal cities are likely to be at risk from flooding by the 2070s - more than three times the number now, according to the report.

Climate change, population growth and urban development will mean that the number at risk will rise from the current 40 million and total property and infrastructure exposure is forecast to rise to US$35 trillion (S$50 trillion) - 9 per cent of projected global gross domestic product.

The OECD report, which was put together by disaster modelling firm Risk Management Solutions and leading scientists, is the first part of the largest-ever study on urban coastal flood exposure.

The report analysed the vulnerability now and in the future of 136 port cities to a one-in-a-century major flood.

The 10 cities most at risk, in terms of exposed population, listed are Mumbai, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Miami, Ho Chi Minh City, Kolkata, Greater New York, Osaka-Kobe, Alexandria and New Orleans.

ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS