GS Paper 3
Syllabus: Environment, Conservation
Source: TH
Context: As per the WMO’s ‘State of the Global Climate 2022’ report, the world’s sea level is rising at an unprecedented rate.
Rising sea levels: The rate of global mean sea-level [GSML] rise has doubled from 2.27 mm/year in 1993-2002 to 4.62 mm/year in 2013-2022.
GSML budget (individual contribution of these factors): Loss of glaciers and ice sheets contributed 36% to the GSML rise (between 2005-2019), Ocean warming (55%), and changes in the storage of land water (less than 10%).
Causes:
- Ocean warming (increasing concentrations of CO2 and other GHGs drive global warming, 90% of the extra heat is stored in the oceans),
- Ice loss from glaciers and ice sheets. Earth’s ice cover/cryosphere includes the
- Arctic and Antarctic regions (called sea ice),
- Glaciers,
- Ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica,
- Seasonal snow cover, and
- Permafrost (mass of land that remains below 0ºC for at least two straight years).
Effects:
- It will cause changes in land cover – seas swallowing more of the land cover.
- The chances of weather formations like cyclones could increase.
- Changes in land water storage → more seawater could seep into the ground → Groundwater (usually freshwater) turning saline.
- Water crises in coastal areas → impacting agriculture in adjacent regions → displacement of hundreds of thousands of people → increasing social disparities and economic liabilities of governments.
Most vulnerable: Coastal communities particularly in tropical countries like India and South Africa, which have high population densities.
Case study (Impact of sea-level rise on societies):
- The Sunderban Delta in West Bengal is the world’s largest mangrove area.
- The lives of coastal communities, including their economic activities, are tied intricately with the coastal ecosystem.
- Rising sea levels and coastal erosion has left more islands submerged under water, endangering socio-economic stability and has forced local communities to migrate.
- A combination of these forces has increased child trafficking in the Sundarbans.
Way ahead:
- More reports are required to generate and accumulate data on climate change.
- These reports should also press for global and local policy-level changes related to climate change.
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