A recent technical brief from the United Nations spells out the frightening severity of the sea level rise which has occurred and what humanity is soon to face. According to the report, since 2000, “global-mean sea level has risen faster than over any prior century in at least the last 3,000 years,” even as the rate of sea level rise continues to increase. In the last decade, the rate of sea level rise has more than doubled. The rise in sea level will keep accelerating in the next several years, and many major cities such as Atlantic City, Boston, New Orleans, New York City, Osaka, and Shanghai may see an increase in their sea level of 9 to 17 inches by 2050.
Sea level rise at this scale poses an enormous threat to hundreds of millions of people around the world. The extent of coastal flooding has already increased in the last 20 years. Sea level rise will result in increased damage from storms such as hurricanes, which are already becoming more frequent and severe. Close to a billion people live in the lowest-elevation coastal areas which are the most vulnerable to this risk. Coastal cities and towns that aren’t made completely uninhabitable by flooding will experience damage to roads and buildings; saltwater intrusion into groundwater; and impacts on livelihoods made in ports, fishing, and agriculture.
Pacific island countries are facing some of the most severe impacts from sea level rise. On many of these islands, home to 70 million people combined, the average elevation is less than six feet above sea level, and more than 90% of the population lives less than three miles from the coast. Storm surges, coastal flooding, and damaging waves will have such a profound impact that the entire populations of some of these countries may become refugees.
Sea level rise is happening because of climate change caused by our economic system’s endless demand for burning fossil fuels. As the earth heats up, the oceans expand and take up more space. At the same time, ice sheets at the poles are melting more and more each year and adding more water into the sea. Without a global mobilization that creates a world free of fossil fuel combustion, the impacts of sea level rise will surely be even more severe.
But sea level rise is not a hypothetical possibility. A significant amount of sea level rise is certain to occur because of carbon emissions that have already happened. To address the impacts of sea level rise, human beings will have to embark on enormous infrastructure projects to minimize the damage to ports and coastal cities. We’ll need to improve millions of personal homes, apartment buildings, railroads, and highways; secure safe and long-term sources of fresh drinking water; and prevent famine from loss of agricultural land. For those cities or areas that cannot be kept habitable, we must help their former residents to resettle in a safe place with plenty of resources.
These massive projects will be one of the biggest challenges our species has ever faced, and it’s simply unthinkable that they can be successful under capitalism, where the wealthiest and most powerful among us chase profit continually rather than thinking about human needs. For any chance at long-term survival, we need to create a society that prioritizes the collective needs of humanity over the profit of the wealthiest few.
