SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Cars and motorcycles drive on a road flooded due to high tide water and rain in Ho Chi Minh city on October 10, 2014. (Photo: Vietnam News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
'Horrifying' New Research Shows Rising Sea Levels Could Wipe Out Major Cities, Displace 150 Million People by 2050
"Climate change is shrinking the planet, in the scariest possible way."
Oct 30, 2019
Ho Chi Minh City, along with the rest of southern Vietnam, "could all but disappear" by 2050.
Bangkok, Thailand, currently home to over eight million people, is under severe threat.
Basra, Iraq, the nation's second-largest city, "could be mostly underwater" by mid-century.
Those are just some of the alarming conclusions of a new research paper on the dire global consequences of rising sea levels driven by the climate crisis.
According to the study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, "chronic coastal flooding or permanent inundation" due to rising seas could threaten three times more people than scientists previously believed if urgent action is not taken to establish protections and confront the underlying crisis.
The authors of the paper "developed a more accurate way of calculating land elevation based on satellite readings, a standard way of estimating the effects of sea level rise over large areas, and found that the previous numbers were far too optimistic," the New York Times reported. "The new research shows that some 150 million people are now living on land that will be below the high-tide line by mid-century."
Dina Ionesco of the International Organization for Migration told the Times that nations must begin preparing for massive internal relocations of citizens.
"We've been trying to ring the alarm bells," Ionesco said. "We know that it's coming."
The Times published striking graphics that contrasted the amount of land that could be underwater by 2050 under the old projections with the "horrifying" new projections.
Bangkok, Thailand
Alexandria, Egypt
Vietnam
Image shows new predictions for sea level rise by 2050. The blue shows the land underwater at high tide. Southern Vietnam almost completely under water. https://t.co/QZ66OhP92Y pic.twitter.com/6unr6AWEG2
-- Joel Tozer (@jttozer) October 29, 2019
Shanghai, China
" Climate change is shrinking the planet, in the scariest possible way," Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, tweeted in response to the new research.
Climate scientist Peter Kalmus noted that he was concerned about "being labeled 'alarmist'" when he first started speaking out about the climate crisis.
"Now I embrace the term," said Kalmus, linking to the Times graphics. "I'm here to sound the alarm. For good reason."
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Ho Chi Minh City, along with the rest of southern Vietnam, "could all but disappear" by 2050.
Bangkok, Thailand, currently home to over eight million people, is under severe threat.
Basra, Iraq, the nation's second-largest city, "could be mostly underwater" by mid-century.
Those are just some of the alarming conclusions of a new research paper on the dire global consequences of rising sea levels driven by the climate crisis.
According to the study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, "chronic coastal flooding or permanent inundation" due to rising seas could threaten three times more people than scientists previously believed if urgent action is not taken to establish protections and confront the underlying crisis.
The authors of the paper "developed a more accurate way of calculating land elevation based on satellite readings, a standard way of estimating the effects of sea level rise over large areas, and found that the previous numbers were far too optimistic," the New York Times reported. "The new research shows that some 150 million people are now living on land that will be below the high-tide line by mid-century."
Dina Ionesco of the International Organization for Migration told the Times that nations must begin preparing for massive internal relocations of citizens.
"We've been trying to ring the alarm bells," Ionesco said. "We know that it's coming."
The Times published striking graphics that contrasted the amount of land that could be underwater by 2050 under the old projections with the "horrifying" new projections.
Bangkok, Thailand
Alexandria, Egypt
Vietnam
Image shows new predictions for sea level rise by 2050. The blue shows the land underwater at high tide. Southern Vietnam almost completely under water. https://t.co/QZ66OhP92Y pic.twitter.com/6unr6AWEG2
-- Joel Tozer (@jttozer) October 29, 2019
Shanghai, China
" Climate change is shrinking the planet, in the scariest possible way," Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, tweeted in response to the new research.
Climate scientist Peter Kalmus noted that he was concerned about "being labeled 'alarmist'" when he first started speaking out about the climate crisis.
"Now I embrace the term," said Kalmus, linking to the Times graphics. "I'm here to sound the alarm. For good reason."
Ho Chi Minh City, along with the rest of southern Vietnam, "could all but disappear" by 2050.
Bangkok, Thailand, currently home to over eight million people, is under severe threat.
Basra, Iraq, the nation's second-largest city, "could be mostly underwater" by mid-century.
Those are just some of the alarming conclusions of a new research paper on the dire global consequences of rising sea levels driven by the climate crisis.
According to the study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, "chronic coastal flooding or permanent inundation" due to rising seas could threaten three times more people than scientists previously believed if urgent action is not taken to establish protections and confront the underlying crisis.
The authors of the paper "developed a more accurate way of calculating land elevation based on satellite readings, a standard way of estimating the effects of sea level rise over large areas, and found that the previous numbers were far too optimistic," the New York Times reported. "The new research shows that some 150 million people are now living on land that will be below the high-tide line by mid-century."
Dina Ionesco of the International Organization for Migration told the Times that nations must begin preparing for massive internal relocations of citizens.
"We've been trying to ring the alarm bells," Ionesco said. "We know that it's coming."
The Times published striking graphics that contrasted the amount of land that could be underwater by 2050 under the old projections with the "horrifying" new projections.
Bangkok, Thailand
Alexandria, Egypt
Vietnam
Image shows new predictions for sea level rise by 2050. The blue shows the land underwater at high tide. Southern Vietnam almost completely under water. https://t.co/QZ66OhP92Y pic.twitter.com/6unr6AWEG2
-- Joel Tozer (@jttozer) October 29, 2019
Shanghai, China
" Climate change is shrinking the planet, in the scariest possible way," Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, tweeted in response to the new research.
Climate scientist Peter Kalmus noted that he was concerned about "being labeled 'alarmist'" when he first started speaking out about the climate crisis.
"Now I embrace the term," said Kalmus, linking to the Times graphics. "I'm here to sound the alarm. For good reason."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy