More Than A Number

Experts addressing the climate conference at Oxford University said that a rise of at least 2m in the world’s sea level is now unstoppable. Stefan Rahmstorf, a scientist at Germany’s Postdam institute said “The crux of the sea level issue is that it starts very slowly but once it gets going it is practically unstoppable.” He also went on to say that there is no way to stop the rise in sea levels.

Rahmstorf went on to say that even if the world managed to curb the rise in temperature 1.5 degrees Celsius sea level would rise by 2 meters and would probably cause a few island nations to be submerged. Speakers at the conference used history to reinforce their arguments. They noted that 3 million years ago the planet was 2-3 degrees warmer and sea levels 25-35 meter higher. 122,00 years ago, they said, it was 2 degrees warmer 10 meters higher.

In the last century sea levels have risen about 20 centimeters and the effect is accelerating. Robert Nicholls of the Southampton University brought everyone’s attention to the fact that about 40 million people live in flood plains. Statistics would state that this number is about 0.6 percent of the world’s population and about 5 percent of globally wealth because of the number of airports and infrastructure located in these areas.