Climate crisis: ‘Global SOS’ issued as Pacific Ocean rises rapidly

UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterreslaunched a “Worldwide SOS” at a summit of Pacific Islandswhere he presented a report that reveals an accelerated rise in sea level in this region.

“I am in Tonga to issue a global SOS – Save Our Seas – regarding rapidly rising sea levels. A global catastrophe is threatening this Pacific paradise”he declared.

Sparsely populated and with few heavy industries, the Pacific islands generate less than 0.02% of the world’s annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

However, This collection of volcanic islands and coral atolls is increasingly threatened by rising ocean levels.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has monitored tide gauges installed on Pacific beaches since the 1990s.

The report released by this climate monitoring body reveals that Seas have risen about 15 centimetres over the past 30 years in some parts of the Pacific. The global average was 9.4 centimeters, according to the report.

“It is increasingly clear that we are running out of time to turn the tide,” The Argentine warned Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the WMO.

The rise in some places, such as Kiribati and the Cook Islands, was similar to or slightly below the global average. But in others, such as the capitals of Samoa and Fiji, the rise was almost three times the average.

Tuvalu, a low-lying island state, could disappear within the next 30 years even under a moderate global warming scenario, scientists say.

“It’s one disaster after another, and we are losing the ability to rebuild, to withstand another cyclone or another flood,” Tuvalu’s climate minister Maina Talia told AFP. “We must not turn a blind eye to climate change and rising sea levels,” Talia insisted.