Sea levels around China's coasts are expected to continue rising
in the next three to 10 years, creating grave challenges for
coastal dwellers.
"They have to watch out for worsened torrential tides and the
invasion of sea water," said Chen Manchun, a leading expert with
the National Marine Data and Information Service in north China's
Tianjin, Sunday.
Compared with the well-accepted benchmark level, which is the
national average from the year 2000, the sea level around China
will likely rise by 10 millimetres by the year 2006 and 28
millimetres by 2013, says the 2003 Bulletin on Sea Levels issued by
the State Oceanic Administration on Saturday.
The rise has slowly but steadily continued in the past half
century in China. Waters rose an average of 2.5 millimetres per
year, slightly more than the world's average for the same period,
said Chen.
According to the bulletin, 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.
According to the bulletin, the main culprit behind the rising
tides is global warming. "The rising sea levels have become a
common headache of many countries," said Chen.
As far as China is concerned, most regions reported higher than
average temperatures last year, said Yao Xuexiang, vice-director of
the Central Meteorological Observer in Beijing.
Although there may not be much that can be done to offset the
rising sea levels in the short run, Chen said local governments can
fend against a worsened invasion of sea water by stopping excessive
extraction of underground water.
The invasion of sea water results in soil salinization and
malfunction of urban sewage discharge systems.
(China Daily?February 2, 2004)