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36 million Indians face flood risk: study
Why in news?
- The number of Indians who stand to be affected by rising sea levels may have been underestimated by as much as 88%, according to a study that uses a new modelling approach.
More in news
- Study Published in: Nature Communications, a scientific journal
- Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM):
(1) a radar mapping system that travelled aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in 2000,
(2) was used to provide detailed maps of the globe to estimates risks posed by flooding.
(3) Maps form the basis for determining the elevation of the earth’s topography
(4) This approach overestimates the elevation of land surfaces and frequently miss- as per the auhtors of the study
- Software used for this study: CoastalDEM
(1) More accurate & “reduces linear vertical bias from 4.71 m to less than 0.06 m”-as per author
(2) Reason for accuracy: Uses more variables — vegetation cover, population indices — to estimate the actual land surface and more sophisticated modelling techniques, claim the authors of Climate Centre, an independent organisation of scientists and journalists working on climate change.
- Findings of the Study:
(1) People to be affected by Annual Flooding in India: 36 million by 2050 and 44 million by 2100 if emissions continue to rise unabated.
(2) High Tide Line (HTL)- the boundary that marks the farthest to which the sea reaches into the land at high tide
(a) 21 million — and not 2.8 million, may be living below HTL.
(b) People living on land below the current HTL: globally nearly 110 million
(c) People on land below annual flood levels- 250 million
(d) SRTM estimates as 28 million & 65 million respectively.
(3) Mean Sea Level(MSL) Rise: As per current studies, climate change has caused global MSL to rise by 1116 cm in 20th century and is expected to by as much as 2 m by the end of this century..
(4) Flood risk Underestimated for other countries:
(a) China at 93 million vs current estimates of 29 million;
Sources
The Hindu