LondonUnderwater

by Leah Jacobs-Gordon

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Nowadays people tend not to give much thought to the fact that how we live today will have an impact on how we live tomorrow but, if not sorted out in the near future, the result will be all to evident soon enough. The changes seen in sea levels in the past and what has been predicted for the future will have a drastic e�ect on the world we know and, if we’re not careful, everything we once knew will be underwater...

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Nowadays, people tend not to give much thought to the fact that how we live today will have an impact on how we live tomorrow but, if not changed in the near future, the result will soon enough become all too evident. The changes already seen in the rise of sea levels and what has been predicted for the future will have a drastic e�ect on the world we know and, if we’re not careful, everything we once knew will be underwater...

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Rising sea levels on Earth are caused mainly by two things: Melting ice caps and Thermal Expansion. Ice formations, like glaciers, naturally melt slightly each summer but this is balanced out by the snow in winter, however, recently a persistently higher climate has led to a higher rate of summer melting as well as diminished snowfall in the winter. A loss of between 50 and 100 billion tons of ice has taken place around Greenland annually over the past couple of decades and if melted entirely the ocean level could rise around 64m. Approximately half of the rise in seal level from the past century is due to warmer oceans, simply through occupying more space. According to estimations made by the IPCC

(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) sea levels are rising 60% faster than was previously thought. The researchers compared those estimates to satellite data of observed sea-level rise and found that while they predicted sea level rise to be at a rate of 1.7mm per year, satellite data recorded a rate of 3.2 mm per year. With a total sea level rise of 2cm in the 18th Century, 6cm in the 19th Century and 18cm in the 20th Century, by the year 2100, we could see a rise of approximately 60cm putting some of the world's greatest coastal cities, like New York, Venice and London, at risk of eventually being underwater.

What are the causes of rising sea levels?

190018001700

Sea Level Rise by Century

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210020001900

60cm

18cm

6cm

2cm

Melted Ice

Thermal Expansion

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Temperatures could rise between two and ten degrees over the next century

2000 21002050

10

5

Ocean’s are rising 60% quicker than originally predicted

Humans are responsible for

70% of the world’s sea level rise

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Temperatures could rise between two and ten degrees over the next century

2000 21002050

10

5

Ocean’s are rising 60% quicker than originally predicted

Humans are responsible for

70% of the world’s sea level rise

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One of the main causes for this sudden global warming is the Greenhouse E�ect. This is where a layer of greenhouse gases of primarily water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide act as a thermal blanket for the Earth, absorbing heat and warming the surface. Human activities, like the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal, are changing the natural greenhouse and over the last century the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has drastically increased. Over the next hundred years the global temperatures could rise from between 2.5 to 10 degrees.

The rise in temperature has also resulted in a higher rate of water evaporation and this in turn has created a problem with �ooding in Britain with the summer of 2007 seeing a 20% rise in rainfall, the highest since before records from 1879. The �oods a�ected thousands of people and caused millions of pounds worth of damage and although impossible to state as a result of climate change, some predictions say this extreme weather will continue in the future.

CO2 Levels raised from 280 parts per

mill to 379 parts per mill in the last

150 years

There has been a 20% increase in rainfall in Britain since record’s began

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One of the main causes for this sudden global warming is the Greenhouse E�ect. This is where a layer of greenhouse gases of primarily water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide act as a thermal blanket for the Earth, absorbing heat and warming the surface. Human activities, like the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal, are changing the natural greenhouse and over the last century the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has drastically increased. Over the next hundred years the global temperatures could rise from between 2.5 to 10 degrees.

The rise in temperature has also resulted in a higher rate of water evaporation and this in turn has created a problem with �ooding in Britain with the summer of 2007 seeing a 20% rise in rainfall, the highest since before records from 1879. The �oods a�ected thousands of people and caused millions of pounds worth of damage and although impossible to state as a result of climate change, some predictions say this extreme weather will continue in the future.

CO2 Levels raised from 280 parts per

mill to 379 parts per mill in the last

150 years

There has been a 20% increase in rainfall in Britain since record’s began

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Some islands, such as England, will be a�ected by sea level rises signi�cantly with the increased risk of �ooding and coastal erosion greater in the south and east. London in particular would be a�ected by the rise in sea levels with areas such as Westminster and the Houses of Parliament, London Bridge, Embankment, Sloane Square and Canary Wharf possibly being underwater in the coming years if no action on climate change and global warming is taken. This would also a�ect major tourist spots and sites of British history such as the National Gallery, Piccadilly Circus, The Globe Theatre and the O2 Arena.

In London, the Thames Barrier protects about £80 billion worth of building and capital infrastructure with some 1.25 million people living or working in the at-risk areas. When it was designed in the 1970's, global average sea levels were rising as approximately 1.8 millimetres a year, nearly doubling to about 3.1 mm a year with expectations for further acceleration. This prediction has led to a revision of the plan to protect London with an e�ort to upgrade London's defences by 2030 in the

Environment agency's Thames 2100 project, so named because it aims to protect the capital for the rest of this century.

In an e�ort to prevent this the regular use of renewable energy is becoming increasingly popular, especially alternative energy sources such as solar power, wind power, geothermal, water power and nuclear power. The adapting of homes to cope with �ooding is vital; building them on higher ground, away from �ood plains and with materials which can withstand heavy rainfall.

Fortunately, there is still a chance for people to rectify the worse e�ects of rising sea levels through relying on renewa-ble energy sources and therefore reducing emissions but this is only if we act as soon as possible. Global warming is everyone’s problem and if not controlled in the near future life in London 2100 will be quite di�erent.

How will London be affected?

Possibly Affected Areas

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