NASA: Several Indian coastal cities will be submerged by up to 2.7 feet by the end of the century

Several Indian coastal cities will be submerged by up to 2.7 feet by the end of the century, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US has predicted.

A new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has dire warnings for India, which is already going through an unpredictable upheaval in weather patterns and environmental factors. The most dangerous risk factor is rising sea level that threatens to submerge 12 coastal cities in the country by the end of the century.

The cities could be nearly three feet underwater by the century's end, the climate change report has warned. The cities include Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, and Visakhapatnam, among others.

Since 1988, the IPCC has published global climate assessments every five to seven years, concentrating on changes in temperature and ice cover, greenhouse gas emissions, and sea levels throughout the world.

Data from satellites and ground equipment, as well as analysis and computer simulations are used to make their sea-level forecasts. 

“Coastal areas will see continued sea-level rise throughout the 21st century, contributing to more frequent and severe coastal flooding in low-lying areas and coastal erosion with extreme sea-level events that previously occurred once in 100 years could happen every year by the end of this century,” said the IPCC Working Group I report.

Here are the Indian cities that will face the brunt of climate change as they fear rising sea levels. While these are initial projections at the current rate, if the trends continue by the end of the century these coastal cities will go under as much as three feet of water.

·        Kandla: 1.87 feet

·        Okha: 1.96 feet

·        Bhaunagar: 2.70 feet

·        Mumbai: 1.90 feet

·        Mormugao: 2.06 feet

·        Mangalore: 1.87 feet

·        Cochin: 2.32 feet

·        Paradip: 1.93 feet

·        Khidirpur: 0.49 feet

·        Visakhapatnam: 1.77 feet

·        Chennai: 1.87 feet

·        Tuticorin: 1.9 feet

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The major cause of such changes is due to global warming. Human intervention has resulted in rapid changes on the earth. The changes that have happened in the last 2000 years are astonishing. Greenhouse gas emissions have increased rapidly since 1750. In 2019, the level of carbon dioxide in the environment has been recorded the highest ever.