NASA data has shown that Karnataka’s Mangalore city will flood first if the levels of sea rises due to melting of glaciers as a result of global warming.
A report said that the sea level at Mangalore will rise by 15.98 cm compared to 15.26 cm in Mumbai and 10.65 cm in New York in the next 100 years. It is believed that Mumbai and New York are the most vulnerable cities, however, the new finding has put forward an alternative theory. The findings are based on NASA’s gradient fingerprint mapping (GFM), which is developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. The tool helps them analyse data as to how much rise in sea level will be cause by the melting of glaciers.
“This is the first time our method will enable planners and engineers to retrieve data about sea level in their area, and get updated numbers when new data about glacial melting becomes available,” Surendra Adhikari, a co-author of the study, told Hindustan Times on Thursday.
Glaciers– that hold 75 per cent of world’s freshwater– are melting at a brisk place due to global warming. The rate is not constant due to gravity, the “push-pull influence” of ice, the wobble of the planet.
Rising sea level will erode coasts and can cause flooding. Sea level will rise by 0.51-1.31 m by the end of the century. Mumbai and Kolkata are the most vulnerable coastal cities as people living their have the biggest threat of losing their lives.
