Chinanews, Shanghai, Mar. 21 – On Monday, British environmental correspondent Paul Brown called the Shanghai Morning Post to warn about the possible dangers that might face Shanghai as a result of global warming.
“Just as I told some of my Chinese friends, by 2050, the average global temperature will rise by 2 degrees Celsius. Supposing it to be the case, some Chinese coastal cities, including Shanghai, will be submerged under water,” he said.
A reporter from the Shanghai Morning Post then interviewed Chen Manchun, a research fellow from the Environmental Department at the National Marine Data and Information Service (NMDIS). Chen confirmed that some Chinese coastal cities, like Shanghai and Tianjin, might be threatened by rising sea level. However, he also pointed out that with effective preventive measures, the danger might only be a theoretical one.
“Sea water rising is a global trend and we can do nothing about it. The problem is caused by both natural forces and human activities. In China, some large cities, such as Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou, are built in estuaries. Due to the excessive exploitation of underground water and the construction of large buildings, the ground of these cities has subsided quickly. At the same time, the sea level around these cities has kept rising, which has made the problem even worse. What we need to do is to take some countermeasures to prevent it from happening. The problem he (Paul Brown) raised was based on the assumption that we don’t take any new measures to handle the problem,” Chen said.
Chen also showed the reporter some information that his team gathered through research. According to his information, by 2050, the sea water level near the Yangtze River Delta region will rise by 20-60 centimeters from 2000, and the sea water level near the Circum-Bohai Ring area will rise by 30-60 centimeters.
“At present, we are doing related assessment work about the problem of sea water rise near Tianjin under the guidance of the State Oceanic Administration. After finishing this, we will kick off the assessment work on a national scale,” he said.
Chen also pointed out that China faced a tough task of preventing sea water from rising.
“China has a very long coastline, which makes it very difficult to build a dam to present sea water from flowing in, like what has been done in the Netherlands. If we plan to build a similar dam, the input will be enormous. Although the rise of sea water is a long process, the disaster, once formed, can occur very soon. We need to draw a lesson from the disastrous flood that occurred in New Orleans of the United States in 2005, and it is urgent for us to carry out research on the issue,” he said.
