Since the beginning of the self-employment revolution, human activities have caused most of the impact on nature. Driven by the pursuit of economic interests, not only has biodiversity been greatly reduced, but also greenhouse gases have gradually increased, and even the ozone layer, which protects the earth from solar radiation, has been hollowed out.

In the midst of such rapid industrial progress, it is the climate issue that strikes us most deeply . In recent years, the climate has become more and more fickle, and high temperatures have become more common.

In addition to the high temperature in cities, the temperature of the earth's poles and oceans is also gradually increasing. This phenomenon is obviously not a good sign.

Antarctic warming and melting glaciers

The scariest place for continued warming isn't cities, it's our Antarctic region. Compared to the Arctic Ocean in the North Pole, the Antarctic continent is more frightening.

Although Antarctica is called a continent, there is an ice layer with an average thickness of 1880 meters above the continent. If the ice layer is included, the average elevation of the Antarctic continent is 2,350 meters, which is more than twice the average elevation of Asia; if the ice layer is excluded, the average elevation is the third from the bottom.

Because of low temperatures and ice, Antarctica is the only place without human habitation . However, even though it is covered by a thick layer of ice and does not receive direct sunlight for a long time throughout the year, the temperature of the Antarctic is gradually rising.

In February 2015, the Argentine research base measured the highest temperature in Antarctica to be 17.5°C, and by the same month in 2020, its temperature had reached 18.3°C. Not only that, but the highest temperature in Antarctica had reached 20.75°C in the same year .

In just five years, temperatures in Antarctica have risen significantly. As the temperature rises, the Antarctic region also has a corresponding series of changes.

In April of this year, British scientists said that the extent of Antarctic sea ice has shrunk to a record low level , and that besides the climate cycle, the climate change caused by human activities is affecting the extent of sea ice .

The reduction of sea ice extent is only the beginning of the abnormal changes in Antarctica for humans. But this beginning may advance the process of global warming, which could lead to the melting of Antarctic glaciers.

We all know in physics that white reflects sunlight. If set in the Antarctic, the sea ice can reflect the heat energy of the sun. However, after the sea ice melts, it becomes a blue ocean. The ocean will further absorb the heat energy of the sun, thereby accelerating the process of reducing the area of ​​sea ice. In this vicious cycle, the sea ice in Antarctica will become less and less. Then came the melting of the glacier.

Due to global warming, the global ocean heat content has grown more than five times as fast over the past three decades as it was between the 1950s and 1980s, which means that Antarctic glaciers are increasingly affected.

Of course, the melting of Antarctic glaciers has also played a "feedback" effect on the world. Today , the rate of global sea level rise has grown to 3.3 mm per year . Although such a number seems relatively small, if we take the disappearance of Japan's Nobukita Kojima in 2018 as an example, it may give us a sense of crisis even more.

With the melting of a large number of glaciers in Antarctica, sea levels are bound to rise. By 2030, some cities with lower elevations could be submerged in the ocean, such as New Orleans in the United States or Venice, the water capital, according to Climate Central's weather team.

It is naturally impossible for a large area of ​​Antarctic glaciers to melt instantly, but when all of them melt, it will have a huge impact on the world. Scientists estimate that if all the Antarctic glaciers melt, the global sea level will rise by about 66 meters.

In this case, some island countries or coastal cities will usher in a fatal blow. At that time, Japan will disappear from the world map. So which cities in China will suffer?

Rising sea levels: The disappearance of cities

The geography of China is divided into three steps, and the average elevation gradually decreases from west to east. The average altitude of the first step is more than 4,000 meters, the second step is between 1,000 and 2,000 meters, and the grounding of the third season is only between 500 meters and 1,000 meters.

Although a sea level rise of 66 meters would not have much impact on China in terms of average elevation, many cities along the coast would actually suffer as a result.

First, Shanghai, the economic center of China, will be wiped out. As a part of the alluvial plain of the Yangtze River Delta, Shanghai has become the economic center of China because of its unique geographical conditions, which has enabled its foreign trade to develop and develop. However, because of its proximity to the sea and the plains, the average elevation of Shanghai is only 2.19 meters.

When the Antarctic glaciers melt, the city of Shanghai will be completely reduced to a marine world . In addition, due to the coastal areas of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, this also makes them largely affected, and only some hilly areas are spared.

In addition, coastal cities around the Bohai Bay and cities around the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea will also suffer from rising sea levels. It is worth mentioning that although the Beijing area is not really a coastal area, its average altitude is only more than 40 meters . Therefore, when the North China Plain is affected, Beijing will also suffer losses.

The impact of sea level rise

For humans, sea level rise is undoubtedly a catastrophe. At present, there are more than seven billion people on the earth. Even if the birth rate is getting lower and lower, the population base is still there. If the sea level rises, the land area of ​​the world will be greatly reduced. In order to avoid being submerged by sea water, the population of coastal cities will continue to move inward, which will make the living environment more crowded.

Not only that, the most developed areas in the world today are concentrated in the coastal areas. When the sea level rises, it will be the first to be affected, which means that the global economic system will suffer heavy losses. Although new coastal cities will be born in the future, it will be tantamount to a reconstruction.

The most worrying thing is that in addition to the disappearance of cities, low-elevation countries will also disappear. For the sake of our own country and nation, we cannot guarantee that those countries will not take desperate risks. If so, then the whole world may usher in a new reshuffle.