Haeundae Beach in Busan, 453 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — If greenhouse gas emissions remain the same as today, sea levels around the Korean peninsula will rise in the near future by more than 10 centimeters, a government report warned Wednesday.
The report published by the Korea Meteorological Administration said if greenhouse gas emissions remain the same, sea levels around the Korean peninsula will increase by an average of 11 centimeters within the early part of this century (2021 to 2040).
Between the mid (2041 to 2060) and later (2081 to 2100) part of the century, sea levels will rise by 27 centimeters and 66 centimeters, respectively.
The Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation’s sea level rise simulator showed that a 40-centimeter rise in sea levels will result in the submergence of 256.8 square kilometers of land.
Even if the use of fossil fuels is minimized and emissions of greenhouse gases decrease, a rise in sea levels will still be inevitable.
In a low-carbon scenario, sea levels around the Korean peninsula will still rise by 10 centimeters in the earlier part of the century, 19 centimeters in the mid-part of the century and 28 centimeters in the later part of the century.
While sea levels would rise slightly in the earlier part of the century, the increase will more than double by the later part of the century.
In a high-carbon scenario, the ocean’s surface temperature will rise by 1.2 degrees Celsius in the earlier part of the century, 2 degrees in the mid-part of the century and 4.5 degrees in the later part of the century.
In a low-carbon scenario, the surface temperature will rise to a lesser extent by 1 degree, 1.5 degrees and 1.8 degrees for each part of the century.
Currently, the surface temperature in the West, East and South Seas stands at 14 degrees Celsius. The East China Sea’s surface temperature currently stands at 22 degrees Celsius.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
