All at sea

The impact of warming oceans is a neglected threat

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), an agency of the United Nations, has sounded its annual warning that appears to go largely unnoticed in the excitement over investment in electric vehicles, solar power, and green hydrogen as key mitigation strategies in India’s fight against global warming. In a report published this week, the WMO said sea levels rose by 4.5 millimetres (mm) a year on average between 2013 and 2022 — which is more than three times the rate at which they rose between 1901 and 1971. The WMO was not, in fact, making a new point; it flagged the risk of rising sea levels almost each year. This year, the report has highlighted the fact that Mumbai, India’s financial capital, which has expanded significantly on reclaimed land, is among the cities facing the biggest threat from rising sea levels. This area is also the locus of some of India’s largest ports. The rise in sea level is the result of acceleration in the loss of ice from the Arctic and Antarctic regions as a result of global warming. The Indian Ocean is among the “hotspots” in this respect.

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