By Emma Farge
GENEVA (Reuters) – Global sea levels are rising at more than double the pace they did in the first decade of measurements in 1993-2002 and touched a new record high last year, the World Meteorological Organization said on Friday.
Extreme glacier melt and record ocean heat levels – which cause water to expand – contributed to an average rise in sea levels of 4.62mm a year between 2013-2022, the U.N. agency said in a major report detailing the havoc of climate change. That is about double the pace of the first decade on record, 1993-2002, leading to a total increase of over 10 cm since the early 1990s.
Rising sea levels threaten some coastal cities and the very existence of low-lying states such as the island of Tuvalu – which plans to build a digital version of itself in case it is submerged.
“This report shows that, once again, greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere continue to reach record levels – contributing to warming of the land and ocean, melting of ice sheets and glaciers, rising sea levels, and warming and acidifying of oceans,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a foreword.
The annual report, released a day ahead of Earth Day, also showed that sea ice in Antarctica receded to record lows last June and July. Oceans were the warmest on record, with around 58% of their surfaces experiencing a marine heatwave, it said.
Overall, the WMO said 2022 ranked as the fifth or sixth warmest year on record with the mean global temperature 1.15 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, despite the cooling impact of a three-year La Niña climatic event.
Climate scientists have warned that the world could breach a new average temperature record in 2023 or 2024, fuelled by climate change and the anticipated return of warming El Nine conditions.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
