UN warns that New York, London and Shanghai will be hit by rising sea levels

Key points
  • The UN Secretary-General has warned the Security Council of rising sea levels.
  • He said about 900 million people living near water are at high risk.
  • The Australia Institute says Australia has already been hit.
The UN has warned of a coming mass exodus due to rising sea levels caused by climate change.
Megacities on every continent will face severe impacts, including Lagos, Bangkok, Mumbai, Shanghai, London, Buenos Aires and New York, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council.

Mr. Guterres said rising water levels would spark a new type of conflict, with people, companies or countries fighting for land.

“We would see an exodus of entire nations on biblical proportions and we would see increasingly fierce competition for fresh water, land and other resources,” he said.
Mr Guterres said rising sea levels would jeopardize access to water, food and healthcare.
The highest risk is for the approximately 900 million people living in coastal zones at low altitudes, which is about one in every ten people on earth.
“I have seen firsthand how people in small island developing States in the Western Pacific are facing sea levels rising four times the world average,” Mr. Guterres said.
“In the Caribbean, rising sea levels have contributed to the destruction of local livelihoods in the tourism and agricultural sectors.”

He noted that rising sea levels are already “forcing” some to move to Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and elsewhere.

The houses are flooded with sea water.

Houses affected by rising sea levels in the village of Weivatuloa, 35 km west of Suva, Fiji. Source: AARP / MIC TSIKAS/AAPIMAGE

Polly Hemming of the Australian Institute’s Climate and Energy Program told SBS News how she saw firsthand the effects of rising sea levels in the Torres Strait in northern Australia.

“I visited the Torres Strait Islands in 2010 and saw how the sea is eating away at people’s homes and homes of their ancestors,” she said.
“Cemetery tombstones were cracked and scattered along the shore.
“That was 13 years ago, and in that time, sea levels in the Torres Strait had risen by about 8cm, if the modeling done by TSRA at the time is correct.
“I hate to think what it looks like now.”
Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) about the impact of climate change on his land.
One consequence is that drinking water is contaminated with salt from rising sea levels, making it unusable. In turn, this could render contaminated land uninhabitable and force Torres Strait Islanders to move to the Australian mainland as climate refugees against their will.
Ms Hemming said Australia should stop new coal and gas projects to fight sea level rise.
“Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of fossil fuels and we must play our part in the absolute chaos that sea level rise will cause.

“If we think it’s bad, it will be much, much worse.

Ms Hemming said the UN report “makes a strong point” that stopping new fossil fuel projects in Australia should be “the number one priority if we are serious about tackling climate change.”
According to the recently published global mean sea level has risen faster since 1900 than in any previous century in the last 3000 years.
He warns that even if global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees, the planet will still see a significant rise in sea water levels.

The same study found that burning fossil fuels is responsible for “the majority” of sea level rise since the late 20th century.