Rising Sea Levels May Threaten River Thames

Rising sea levels may threaten River Thames.

Rising sea levels caused by climate change may have a direct effect on the River Thames in London, causing it to flood parts of the city if reinforcements are not made.

Estimates vary widely, but melting ice is thought to be a contributing factor in the gradual rise of sea levels worldwide.

European scientists at the Ice2Sea project estimate that the sea level will rise somewhere between 3 point 5 and 36 point 8 centimeters by the year 2100, with some estimates around a meter or more when adding in storm surges.

These forecasted changes could result in water surges high enough to breach the flood barriers built in the River Thames.

The barriers of the Thames were designed with one thousand year flood protection in mind.

Professor David Vaughan, of the British Antarctic Survey said that with a one meter rise in sea level “you would take that level of protection from one in 1,000 years down to one in 10 years.”

The effects of climate change on sea levels will vary from place to place, with some locations having a higher risk of flooding in the future.