UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the climate summit in Egypt last autumn. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB
The seas
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14. feb. 2023 22:29 – Updated 14 Feb. 2023 22:29
London, New York, Shanghai, Jakarta, Copenhagen and a number of other large cities could be hit hard by rising sea levels, according to UN chief António Guterres.
He spoke on Tuesday when the UN Security Council discussed the problem, which is caused by global warming.
– Low-lying communities and entire countries can disappear forever, said the UN Secretary-General.
In the Security Council, he warned against a mass displacement “of entire populations on a biblical scale”.
Bangladesh, China, India and the Netherlands are among the countries at risk when seas rise. There are also a number of large coastal towns.
Among these are London, New York, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Shanghai, Jakarta, Cairo, Lagos, Bangkok, Dhaka and the Danish capital Copenhagen, according to Guterres.
900 million people live in low-lying coastal areas that are vulnerable when the water rises. How strong the rise will be depends, among other things, on whether the world community manages to cut emissions of greenhouse gases.
