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  Yahoo News 16 Feb 07
Rising sea levels present China with 'unimaginable challenges'

BEIJING (AFP) - Shanghai, Guangzhou and other large coastal cities in China could face " unimaginable challenges" if global warming continues and the oceans keep rising, state media said.

A report released recently by the State Oceanic Administration has warned of a rapid rise in sea levels that threatens China's densely populated east coast, the China Daily reported.

"The speed is astonishing," said Lu Xuedu, the deputy director of the environmental division of the Ministry of Science and Technology. "Coastal cities including Shanghai and Guangzhou will confront unimaginable challenges if the situation deteriorates," he told the paper.

The sea level had risen by an average of 2.5 millimeters (one tenth of an inch) annually in recent years, the paper said, citing the oceanic administration's report.

It predicted that over the next decade, the sea would to rise by up to 31 millimeters, threatening low-lying cities, according to the paper.

"They'll begin building dykes like the Dutch, to stop the cities from being flooded," said Yang Ailun, an expert on climate change with Greenpeace China. "But building dykes will be an action taken too late, and we first need to start cutting greenhouse gas emissions," she said.

China is preparing a campaign to alert local officials to global warming, in an apparent attempt to address the root causes, the paper said. The plan calls for the reduction of greenhouse gases and development of climate-friendly technologies, and could be submitted to the cabinet by the end of the month.

It is likely to exert only minor pressure on local officials, as it will not set specific targets and will be "more of a guideline," said Lu.

Observers have argued that it is particularly important to address officials at the grassroots level. This is because they are evaluated according to their ability to generate growth, meaning there is little incentive to curb pollution.

The effort comes after the UN International Panel on Climate Change earlier this month issued a hard-hitting report saying the Earth's surface temperatures would rise by between 1.8 and 4.0 degrees C (3.2 and 7.2 degrees F) this century. The report predicted sea-levels could rise by up to 59 centimeters (23 inches).

A China meteorological bureau study has said such an increase could endanger large swathes of the country's coastline, where 70 percent of its large cities, over half the population lie, and which accounts for nearly 60 percent of the national economy.

China may now be the world's second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the United States. But the government points out that the per capita emissions of the nation's 1.3 billion people pale in comparison with per capita emissions from developed countries.

"China's government has a point in their view of global warming," said Yang of Greenpeace. "But still there is a gap of understanding between the efforts of the government and what we should really be doing to cut greenhouse gases."
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