Researchers find looming threat could cost major cities $200 billion in damages: 'Livelihoods are under constant threat'

Researchers recently uncovered data showing that coastal Asian cities could be under significant threat in the coming years. 

What's happening?

The study published in Nature looked at the potential impact of rising seas on coastal Asian communities and cities, including the islands of Oceania. 

What the researchers found was that currently, the encroaching waters of the Pacific cost $26.8 billion in economic losses per year. But as conditions worsen depending on the model they looked at, those costs skyrocket. In total, by 2050, those losses are projected to move to anywhere from $143.7 billion to $197.8 billion. Smaller island nations such as Tuvalu, Kiribati, and the Maldives will be hit hard in terms of the percentage of their economies lost to flooding. 

Southeast Asia, with its coastal-heavy communities in places like Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia, will be particularly hard hit, accounting for almost 43% of that figure, while South Asia, like India, and East Asia, like China and Japan, will make up 27% and 26% of that number, respectively.

Why is this loss important?

These numbers put into stark terms the kind of threat we face from rising seas due to warming global temperatures. We can brace for hundreds of billions of dollars a year in losses just from the rising seas and the accompanying flooding alone if we continue along our current path. 

The numbers are just as ominous in terms of the actual lives threatened by flooding; according to the study, six million people in these regions are under threat from flooding. 

"Although this may appear to be a small percentage, it still represents millions of individuals and families whose lives and livelihoods are under constant threat," the paper said. 

It should also be noted that this just represents the flood risk; it doesn't include things like increased storm severity, landslides, drought, and other issues that come along with rising global temperatures. 

What's being done about the flooding loss?

Studies like this help to illustrate the need for proactive, protective, and preventative action in these coastal regions and around the globe to help slow the impact of the rising seas. Many steps are already being taken in these regions to try to save what they can. 

In places like Tuvalu, planned migration is already underway to Australia in a bid to save what they can of their culture before the waves swallow their tiny island. 

The best way we can minimize the coming damage is to reduce carbon air pollution. Doing so will slow the warming of the planet, reducing the damage the rising oceans will have on these coastal communities and our own coastal regions.   

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