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Sea level to rise faster than expected: media

Xinhua, May 11, 2017 Adjust font size:

The sea level will rise remarkably faster than expected so far, German media Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) has reported.

The possibility of seeing sea level rise one meter, to a maximum 1.7 meters cannot be excluded, said the NRD report, quoting an internal letter from the German Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) to the German Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI).

The BSH said in the letter that the existing anti-flood and waterlogging infrastructure could only offer sufficient protection up to 2050. Coastal areas would be exposed to the danger of floods, NDR reported Wednesday, citing the correspondence.

German federal states now align with the 2013 United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which says that the rise of sea level could reach between 0.52 to 0.98 meter by the end of the century.

A spokesperson from the coastal state of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany said the state was building dikes to resist the sea level rise of 0.5 meter, but the construction height could increase as required.

The spokesperson also expressed confidence in the technology's ability to face the extreme scene described in the letter.

BSH suggested the BMVI prepare a plan to deal with the technological and social changes that will be necessary when the sea level rises and make fundamental decisions after the new IPCC report in 2019.

BSH wrote the letter last year on the basis of several of the latest climate change studies. Endit