According to the new report compiled by 100 scientists across 36 countries by the United Nations’s body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Mumbai will likely be washed away by the Arabian sea waves by 2050. The most populated city of India, home to 18 million people will be completely sunk in the next 30 years.
The new report came as a shock to the researchers and scientists as there is a dramatic difference between the current and earlier predictions.
The New York Times
Scientists also claimed that 300 million are currently living on land that will flood at least once a year by 2050. The earlier projection made by NASA was 80 million people are currently at risk. Scientists believe that no humans will remain untouched by such disastrous consequences, however, coastal cities, which currently host around 2 billion people, will remain at the helm of climate change.
Upon this, the IPCC said to Conde Nast, “Melting glaciers and ice sheets are causing sea level rise, and coastal extreme events are becoming more severe.”
However, Mumbai is not the only coastal city that is facing the threat of being completely inundated. Surat, Kolkata, Chennai, and the Andaman Islands are also facing a threat.
This comes on the heels of the Paris Climate Agreement continually going unmet as the countries involved are constantly violating the guidelines.
Highlights from the IPCC report –
- IPCC augured that tropical cyclones will be more aggressive with every passing year.
- Torrential heatwaves, floods, and rains among other abnormal climatic events are becoming more rampant. What was a once-in-a-century occurrence will now become a once-in-a-year event by 2050.
- If the Paris climate guidelines are abided by India and India manages to keep the rise in temperature by 2-degree Celsius, sea levels will still rise by 30-60 cm. However, a mere 50 cm rise in sea levels is enough to wash away the cities located along the coastlines. If India continues to violate the deal, the water will rise up to 100-110 cms leaving no trace of Mumbai behind.
- While the coastal cities will be inundated, north India will likely face water scarcity as 64% of the glaciers will be melted in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas. And, as these glaciers recede more and more, North Indian states will face severe drought.
