Life Below Water (14)

In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

• [New] In the coming years, climate change and sea level rise will strike Yemen hard.
• [New] Certain agricultural demands may increase more than others with an increasingly wealthier global population, and meat is one commodity expected to double global food demand by 2050, which directly affects the global supply of fresh water.
• CNOOC's development of the Liuhua oil fields in the South China Sea, off Hong Kong, will be undertaken by an FPSO built by Beihai Shipbuilding at a cost of approximately $97.5m.
• By the year 2100, Greenland alone could cause 3 or 4 feet (more than 1 meter) of sea level rise.
• During the current program, which runs from 2015/16 to 2020/21, the Environment Agency will spend GBP2.5 billion on flood protection (from rivers, the sea, groundwater, and surface water) in England.
• Average global sea level will rise by up to 77 centimetres by the end of the century if warming is kept to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• If ten states across the Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States stick with current renewable energy standards, they could see $4.7 billion in health benefits in 2030.
• By 2050 nearly 70% of the world's population will live in cities, which are increasingly impacted by extreme weather and sea level rise, while producing about 75% of planet-warming emissions.
• Global sea level rose faster in the 20th century than in any of the 27 previous centuries, and observations and projections suggest that it will rise at a higher rate during the 21st century.
• Irish sea levels are expected to rise in all coastal areas by up to 0.8 metres by the year 2100.
• The world's oceans will likely lose about one-sixth of its fish and other marine life by the end of the century if climate change continues on its current path.
• Earlier this year, Russian Parliament adopted legislation giving Rosatom a monopoly over managing access to the Northern Sea Route through its icebreakers, which will chaperone foreign traffic.
• NASA expects sea levels to rise between one and four feet by 2100, and has pointed out that small islands like the Pacific nation of Tuvalu could be entirely submerged as a result.
• Demand for water for agriculture could rise by over 30% between 2000-2030 and could double by 2050, depending on which future scenario is adopted, but will be affected by pressures from industry, domestic use, and the need to maintain environmental flows.
• Demand for water for agriculture could rise by over 30% by 2030, while total global water demand could rise by 35-60% between 2000 and 2025, and could double by 2050 owing to pressures from industry, domestic use and the need to maintain environmental flows.
• As the world dithers on climate action, carbon emissions continue, the oceans will warm further and will likely take a century or more to return to the cooler temperatures of the last century.
• The United States faces more than $400 billion in costs over the next 20 years, much of it sooner, to defend coastal communities from inevitable sea-level rise: More than 130 counties face at least $1 billion in costs, and 14 states will see expenses of $10 billion or greater between now and 2040.
• In a worst-case scenario, if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current pace, sea level could rise by as much as three meters by 2100.
• Median sea level is expected to increase by 0.23 metres with respect to the 1986-2004 average by 2050, at an almost threefold increase from the expected 2020 median value.
• By the year 2100: Rising sea levels could force up to 2 billion people inland, creating a refugee crisis among one fifth of the world's population.
• If countries make rapid cuts to emissions, the IPCC deems it likely that the sea level will rise by 26-55 cm with a 67% confidence interval.
• Sea level rise since the start of the 20th century has been dominated by retreat of glaciers and expansion of the ocean, but the contributions of the two large ice sheets are expected to increase in the 21st century.

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Last updated: 16 September 2019