‘Global sea-level rise (slr) and implications key facts and figures’ report.

• It has been released by World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
• Report highlighted how global sea-level changes induced by climate change and melting of major ice masses will impact small island dwelling states, and densely populated low-lying urban areas.

Key findings

• India, China, Bangladesh and Netherlands face highest threat of SLR globally.
  • Mumbai, Dhaka, London, New York among metros in line of sea-level rise threat.
• Global mean sea level increased by 0.20 metres from 1901 to 2018.
  • Sea levels rose by 4.5 millimeters a year on average between 2013 and 2022 — over three times higher than the rate at which they rose between 1901 and 1971.
  • The average yearly rise in sea levels was 1.3 mm a year between 1901 and 1971, which increased to 1.9 mm a year between 1971 and 2006, and 3.7 mm a year between 2006 and 2018.
• Almost 11% of global population (896 million people) lived within Low Elevation Coastal Zone in 2020, potentially increasing to beyond 1 billion people by 2050.

Contributors to SLR from 1971-2018

• Thermal expansion contributed to 50% of sea level rise during 1971-2018, while ice loss from glaciers contributed to 22%, ice-sheet loss to 20% and changes in land-water storage 8%.
• The rate of ice-sheet loss increased by a factor of four between 1992-1999 and 2010-2019. Together, icesheet and glacier mass loss were the dominant contributors to global mean sea level rise during 2006-2018.

Impact

• Rising sea levels cause the erosion of coastal ecosystems, worsening the intensity of storm surges and flooding.
• It can also lead to the contamination of soil and groundwater with salt, further impacting food security.

About World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

• It is an intergovernmental organization established by the ratification of the WMO Convention in 1950. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations.
• Headquarters- Geneva Switzerland
• Members-193 Member States and Territories including India.
• Its supreme body is the World Meteorological Congress.