Sea level to rise by 1.1 m: Study

Tiruchirapalli, Aug 28 (UNI) Thermal expansion of sea water and massive ice melt will cause rise in sea level by 1.1 m, submerging many coastal areas in the country in another 100 years, according to a study.

According to the research, undertaken by a team of Centre for Excellence in Remote Sensing, Bharathidasan University, the areas like Ponneri, Pulicat, Mamallapuram, the north of Puducherry, Nagapattinam, Vedaranyam and Tuticorin would be highly affected with the rise in the sea level.

University sources said the project, funded by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), to study the possible impact of sea level rise, was undertaken with remote sensing and geomatics technologies by S M Ramasamy, Head of the Centre, and C J Kumanan and J Saravanavel, faculty members. It was in the wake of prediction by Inter Governmental Panel for Climate change that globally, the sea level might rise by 0.59 m before 2100.

The study threw light on the upward and downward tectonic movements of the coast, topographic conditions and geomorphic processes. The possible zones of lateral inundation of the land were visualised using fine resolution 3D topographic surface models derived from the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission data. As per the preliminary understanding, mangroves, marshland, creeks, saltpans and aquaculture fields would get submerged by 42-60 per cent of their present aerial extent, the sources added.

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