Rising Sea Levels Will Swallow Statue of Liberty in the Future: Study

If the current global warming trend continues, a dozen of UNESCO World Heritage sites would be lost, according to a new research.

Rising sea levels due to global climate change are one of the biggest environmental worries. Apart from being a major threat to coastal areas, the rising waters also pose a major threat to world heritage sites and island nations.

The study, led by Professor Ben Marzeion from the University of Innsbruck, warns that if the current trend of global warming is sustained for the next two millennia, nearly 6 percent ( 40 sites) of the UNESCO will be lost and 0.7 percent of  global land area will disappear.

The UNESCO World Heritage sites to be hit by rising sea levels include 'The Statue of Liberty', 'Independence Hall', 'Tower of London', 'Sydney Opera House' and a few other well known sites.

"Sea-levels are responding to global warming slowly but steadily because the key processes involved-ocean heat uptake and melting continental ice-go on for a long while after the warming of the atmosphere has stopped," said lead author of the study, Professor Ben Marzeion, from the University of Innsbruck.

If the global temperature increases by 3  degree Celsius in the next 2,000 years, then the number of cultural heritage sites to be affected soar to 19 percent (136 sites) and the land area that will remain below the sea level will rise to  over 1.1 percent. The ripple effect will be seen in city centres of Brugge, Naples, Riga and St. Petersburg; Venice and its Lagoon; Robben Island and Westminster Abbey.

Professor Marzeion said, "Our results show that if there is a 3°C temperature increase over the next 2000 years, which seems likely to be reached and is generally considered not to be an extreme scenario, the impacts on global heritage would be severe. We've assumed that a heritage site is impacted when at least part of it is below local mean sea-level; however, tides and storm surges may dictate whether or not the site should be protected before sea-levels reach this point."

The scientists predict that almost 7 percent of the population would lose the land they are living on presently. Over 60 percent of those affected would be in China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam.

On calculating the amount of global land that would be submerged below the sea level due to rising sea level, they found seven countries would lose 50 percent of the land and 35 countries would lose 10 percent of their land. The seven countries include Cayman Islands, Maldives and Bahamas.

The finding is documented in the journal, Environmental Research Letters.