Sea level rise limits adaptation options

Sea levels are rising twice as fast as expected in some parts of the UK New Zealand It consists of two islands, threatening the country’s two largest cities, Auckland and Wellington, according to a government research program published on Monday, May 2. The study program was called NZ SeaRise (literally “New Zealand sea level rise”), which is government funded and a five-year study program carried out by local and international scientists.

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The expansion of the ocean and the melting of glaciers are responsible for the increase in water levels. “When you heat the water, it takes up more space. Since we can’t sink to the ocean floor, it is the sea level that rises,” The diagrams are drawn by Eric Gilliardi, an oceanographer and climatologist at the National Center for Scientific Research. “We succeed in projecting sea level rise under scenarios of increasing greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. But once we get back to the local level, it becomes more complex,” he thinks.

In New Zealand, not only does the water level rise, but the land recedes as well. New Zealand sits on top of the Pacific Fire, a volcanic terrain that tends to move and which, between two earthquakes, tends to sink in certain areas of the country. But it is difficult to predict the local depression of the ribs, “ Reports Benoit Messiniac, a researcher at the National Center for Space Studies (Cnes) and at the Laboratory for Geophysics and Oceanic Studies (Legos) in Toulouse.

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While experts have predicted a 30cm sea level rise on some New Zealand coasts in 2060, new data from NZ SeaRise shows that this rise could occur as early as 2040. Wellington could thus be a victim of an annual damaging flood.

Thus, the authorities have less time than expected to regulate adaptation to the consequences of climate change. The adaptation plan that is currently being developed, which includes the relocation of some residents and infrastructure, should be reviewed.

Concretely, this “It takes years, Forty or sixty years »Gonierre Le Cuzanet, a researcher with the Bureau of Research in Geology and Mining (BRGM) and co-author of Part Two of the Sixth Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) explains. In the case of the Moose Barrier in Venice (the module that prevents flooding in Venice during high tide). This adaptation took years.