Rising sea levels threaten Shanghai, other Chinese cities January 17, 2008 20:59:00
Associated Press
BEIJING -- Sea levels off Shanghai and other Chinese coastal cities are rising at an alarming rate, leading to contamination of drinking water supplies and other threats, China's State Oceanic Administration reported Thursday.
Waters off the industrial port city of Tianjin, 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Beijing, rose by 196 millimeters (7.72 inches) over the past three decades, the administration said.
Seas off the business hub of Shanghai have risen by 115 millimeters (4.53 inches) over the same period, the report said.
Administration experts said global climate change and the sinking of coastal land due to the pumping of ground water were the major causes behind rising water levels.
"Sea level rises worldwide cannot be reversed, so Chinese city officials and planners must take measures to adapt to the change," Chen Manchun, an administration researcher, was quoted as saying on the central government's official Web site.
Globally, rising seas threaten to submerge low-lying island groups, erode coastlines and force the construction of vast new levees. Some scientists have warned that melting of the vast glaciers of Greenland could cause a four-meter (13-foot) rise in sea levels in coming centuries.
Higher sea levels and the sinking of coastal land complicate Shanghai's already difficult task of providing safe water supplies to its 20 million people due to salt water leaching into its aquifer, the administration said.
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