2024-08-27 07:48:02
NUKUALOFA, Tongan (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is drawing attention to accelerating sea level rise, especially in more vulnerable Pacific island nations, and is issuing another urgent appeal to the world, this time. To save the ocean.
The United Nations and World Meteorological Organization reported on Monday that the incidence of the disease is worsening as the planet warms and ice caps and glaciers melt. The report emphasizes that the Southeast Pacific is not only affected by sea level rise, but also by other impacts of climate change such as acidification and marine heat waves.
Guterres, who has visited Samoa and Tonga, made the call on Tuesday from the Tongan capital on the sidelines of a meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, whose members are among the countries most threatened by climate change. The United Nations General Assembly will hold a special session in September to discuss sea level rise.
“This is a crazy situation,” Guterres said. “Sea level rise is an entirely human-caused crisis that will soon reach almost unimaginable proportions.”
“A global catastrophe is putting this Pacific paradise at risk,” he added. “The ocean is overflowing.”
A report commissioned by Guterres’ office determined that sea levels around Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, rose by 21 centimeters (8.3 inches) between 1990 and 2020, compared with the global average of 10 centimeters (3.9 inches). double. In Apia, Samoa, an increase of 31 cm (1 ft) was recorded, while in Suva-B, Fiji, an increase of 29 cm (11.4 in) was recorded.
“This puts Pacific island countries at grave risk,” Guterres said, adding that about 90 percent of the region’s population lives within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the ocean.
Since 1980, coastal flooding in Guam has increased from 2 to 22 incidents per year, while in the Cook Islands it has increased from 5 to 43 incidents. Increased to 102 from 2023 Southwest Pacific Climate Report.
“The ocean is going from a lifelong friend to an increasingly serious threat because of rising sea levels,” World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Celeste Soro told reporters in Nuku’alofa on Tuesday.
The United Nations weather agency noted that while in the western extremes the water level in the Pacific Ocean is almost twice the world average, in the central regions it is closer to the average.
Sea levels are rising faster in the western tropical Pacific because melting ice from West Antarctica is flowing into warmer waters and ocean currents, U.N. officials say.
Guterres said he may see changes since his last visit to the region in May 2019.
While he was in Nuku’alofa with Pacific nations to discuss environmental issues at the annual leaders’ summit, a hundred local high school students and activists from across the Pacific were marching for climate justice a few blocks away.
One of the participants was Itinterunga Rae from the Banaban Human Rights Defenders Network, whose people were forced to move from their native Kiribati to Fiji generations ago due to environmental degradation. Wray said abandoning the Pacific islands should not be seen as a solution to the problem.
“We promote climate mobility as a solution to insulate your island from the ravages of climate change, but it’s not the safest option,” he said. He added that the Banabans were cut off from the source of their culture and heritage. “The alarm is warranted,” said S. Jeffress Williams, a retired U.S. Geological Survey scientist who specializes in sea level studies. The situation is particularly bad in the Pacific islands, he added, as most are lower in altitude and more vulnerable to injuries.
Three outside experts said the sea level report accurately reflected what was happening.
According to the United Nations, although the Pacific produces only 0.2% of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change and ocean expansion, it has been significantly impacted. Much of the rise in sea levels is caused by the melting of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Melting of land glaciers and warming of water also play a role.
The United Nations says about 90 percent of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases flows into the oceans.
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Borenstein reported from Kensington, Maryland.
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Borenstein in X @borenbearsand Graham McClay @CGrahamMcLay.
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AP’s climate and environment coverage is supported by several private foundations. The Associated Press is solely responsible for its content.
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