Catastrophic impact of rising sea levels confirmed in new UN IPCC report calling for rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- New Orb Media Inc. reporting [https://orbmedia.org/underwater] illuminates the catastrophic impact rising sea levels and more extreme rainfall are having globally. New research suggests that the human and financial costs of flooding are already much higher and longer-lasting than previously suspected.
Worldwide, floods are the most frequent form of natural disaster [https://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/disaster-statistics]. As economists strive to calculate the long-term effects on global supply chains, national GDPs, household income, and inequality, the consequences of climate change related flooding are becoming increasingly clear.
Today, 40 percent of the world's population [http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/methodology_sheets/oceans_seas_coasts/pop_coastal_areas.pdf] lives within 100 kilometers (63 miles) of a coastline - and that number is increasing. This urbanization, combined with climate change and outdated infrastructure, compound to make floods more intense and damaging.
"If we're only adding up the direct cost of a flood on the houses that were inundated, and the price it took to bail those out, and the price it takes to repair infrastructure, and other things like that, then we're potentially missing large hidden costs associated with those floods," observes Professor Amir Jina, University of Chicago.
The biggest loss from any catastrophic flood, to both businesses and people, is opportunity cost. Through this story, Orb Media focuses on showing the costs associated with loss of livelihood, income, and other life opportunities.
Orb Media is pleased to partner with members of the Orb Media Network (OMN), a group of global agenda-setting media which collaborate to simultaneously publish stories together that catalyze global dialogue on critical issues, focusing the attention of government, industry, researchers, civil society, and the public.
OMN members: South China Morning Post (China), Die Zeit (Germany), Channels (Nigeria), Dhaka Tribune (Bangladesh), Folha de São Paolo (Brazil), The Hindu (India), Tempo Media Group (Indonesia), eNCA (South Africa), La Nación (Argentina), El Comercio (Perú), SVT (Sweden), El País (Uruguay), Mail & Guardian (South Africa), El Tiempo (Colombia), BBC (United Kingdom), Cadena SER-Prisa (Spain), CBC (Canada), YLE (Finland).
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