Rising Sea Level | 11 Jul 2019

According to the data from Ministry of Earth Sciences, the four ports — Diamond Harbour, Kandla, Haldia and Port Blair — recorded a higher sea-level rise than the global average.

• While recent studies reveal that sea-level rise in the country has been estimated to be 1.3 mm/year along India’s coasts during the last 40-50 years, at Diamond Harbour the rise was almost five times higher at 5.16 mm per year.
• The sea-level rise is higher in West Bengal, particularly in the Sunderbans delta because of the deltaic sediment deposition as a result of the mixing of freshwater and saline water.
• According to the fifth assessment report of the International Panel on Climate Change
  
  • Sea level rise is said to be linked with global warming
  • The global sea level was rising at an average rate of 1.8 mm per year over the last century.
• Rising sea levels may increase coastal hazards such as storm surge, tsunami, coastal floods, high waves and coastal erosion in the low lying coastal areas in addition to causing a gradual loss of coastal land to sea
• Studies over Indian region have shown a warming trend of 0.6°C on all India average basis.