sea levels rising on Shanghai - officials trying to make plans

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index.php?smp=&lang=eng


Sea levels off Shanghai and other Chinese coastal cities are rising at an alarming rate, leading to contamination of drinking water supplies and other threats, China's State Oceanic Administration reported Thursday. Waters off the industrial port city of Tianjin, 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Beijing, rose by 196 millimeters (7.72 inches) over the past three decades, the administration said. Seas off the business hub of Shanghai have risen by 115 millimeters (4.53 inches) over the same period, the report said. Administration experts said global climate change and the sinking of coastal land due to the pumping of ground water were the major causes behind rising water levels. "Sea level rises worldwide cannot be reversed, so Chinese city officials and planners must take measures to adapt to the change," Chen Manchun, an administration researcher, was quoted as saying on the central government's official Web site.

Globally, rising seas threaten to submerge low-lying island groups, erode coastlines and force the construction of vast new levees. Some scientists have warned that melting of the vast glaciers of Greenland could cause a 4-meter (13-foot) rise in sea levels in coming centuries. Higher sea levels and the sinking of coastal land complicate Shanghai's already difficult task of providing safe water supplies to its 20 million people due to salt water leaching into its aquifer, the administration said. Along China's 18,000 kilometers (11,185 miles) of coastline, sea levels have risen by an average of 90 millimeters (3.54 inches), while average coastal water temperatures were slightly warmer, the report said. Waters levels have risen more quickly in the country's north, the report said, but gave no reasons for the disparity.)
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and if that isn't enough

the Yangtze River at the lowest level in 142 years


China is facing its worst drought in a decade, with water in parts of the Yangtze River at the lowest level in 142 years, state media has reported. Millions of people were short of water, and dozens of ships had run aground in the river since October, reports said. Officials said low water levels in the Yangtze were not linked to construction of the massive Three Gorges Dam. China faces droughts and floods annually but has seen a recent increase in extreme weather conditions. In the major Yangtze port city of Hankou, water levels fell to 13.98m (46ft) in early January - the lowest level since records began in 1866. "This year's drought is rare," the daily quoted a local farmer as saying.

"Just days ago, I saw ship after ship running aground. I have never seen that before." Water levels in other rivers and reservoirs in China are also reported to be at record lows. Officials said that an earlier than expected dry season was to blame for the drought. Authorities have already warned that climate change could make weather conditions in China much tougher in the years ahead. Large amounts of water were also stored behind the Three Gorges Dam last month, causing a 50% reduction in the flow volume of the Yangtze, China Daily said. But the Yangtze River Water Resource Commission said this was not the cause of the problem, the daily added. Supporters of the dam say it will prevent devastating floods and provide much-needed hydroelectric power but there are concerns over its environmental impact.)
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all those people have to eat and drink, and live on dry ground - somewhere


and in Sweden it is spring - winter seems to have been skipped over, so far

they are picking chanterelles and spring flowers

.

and their cities are going under
Their mostly sea level or below

It will be tragic and the crisis is coming swiftly

unlike certain other countries I could name...

how they were treated during the flood is shameful...

but on rebuilding it? it was a foolish man who built his house upon the sand..