China’s Coastal Cities Face Dual Threat of Rising Seas and Sinking Land, Study Reveals
Scientists report that modern sea level rise is occurring faster than any time in the past 4,000 years. China’s delta cities face compounded risks from both rising oceans and human-caused land subsidence, threatening global supply chains.
Unprecedented Sea Level Rise Documented
According to reports published in Nature, global sea levels have been rising at an average rate of 1.5 millimeters per year since 1900, a pace that exceeds any century-long period in the past four millennia. The research team, which included scientists from Rutgers University and Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, examined thousands of geological records to reconstruct sea level changes over the past 12,000 years.