KOZHIKODE: According to a recent report of Climate Central, a US-based non-profit research and journalism organisation, the rise in sea level owing to global warming could submerge land home to nearly 43 lakh people in the state.
The study, ‘Mapping Choices Carbon, Climate, And Rising Seas Our Global Legacy’, said a 4-degree celsius spike in temperature could precipitate a 9.3-metre rise in sea level in Kochi Urban Agglomeration and could lock in enough sea level rise to submerge land currently home to around 20.51 lakh people. Likewise, the water level would go up 9.4 per cent in Thiruvananthapuram and 9.2 per cent in Kozhikode affecting 16.61 lakh and 6.68 lakh people respectively.
At present, countries across the globe under the aegis of United Nations have made a commitment to cap the rise in Earth’s temperature to 2-degree celsius. Even the 2-degree celsius target is met, the sea level will still rise by 5 metres in both Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram and 4.9 metres in Kozhikode, putting 18 lakh people at risk.
“Carbon emissions causing 4 degree Celsius of warming could lock in enough eventual sea level rise to submerge land currently home to 470 to 760 million people globally. Carbon cuts resulting in the proposed international target of 2 degree Celsius warming would reduce the rise locked in so that it would threaten areas now occupied by as few as 130 million people,” the report said.
A total of 5.5 crore people in India would be impacted by the global warming with the sea level set to rise considerably in major cities including Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, the report added.