China's coasts threatened by rising sea levels due to global warming

SHANGHAI (AFP) Feb 02, 2004
Global warming will cause sea levels around China's coasts to continue rising in the next three to 10 years, creating problems for the country's coastal residents, state press reported Monday.

The State Oceanic Administration's 2003 Bulletin on Sea Levels predicted that the sea level around China will likely rise by 10 millimetres by the year 2006 and 28 millimetres by 2013, compared with the 2000 national average, the China Daily reported.

"They have to watch out for worsened torrential tides and the invasion of sea water," the report quoted Chen Manchun, an expert with the National Marine Data and Information Service, as saying.

By last year, the sea level around China's coasts had risen 60 millimetres more than the world average between 1975 and 1986. The worldwide average is the international benchmark to calculate changes in ocean levels.

Chen blamed global warming as the main reason for the rising sea levels.

Most regions in China reported higher than average temperatures last year, said Yao Xuexiang, vice-director of the Central Meteorological Observer in Beijing.

SPACE.WIRE