Chinese researchers have recreated the changes in sea level in the South China Sea over various periods and discovered that the sea level has risen by 150 mm since 1900.
The study was conducted by the East China Sea Oceanographic Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with numerous research institutes across the country, according to Xinhua.
Corals on Mapur Island, Indonesia, help researchers assess sea level over the past century. (Photo: Jedrxej Majewski).
The research is based on observations of Porites corals, a common coral species in the South China Sea, known for their rapid growth, specific growth cycles each year, and sensitive responses to changes in the marine environment.
Researchers analyzed the correlation mechanisms between stable oxygen isotopes found in Porites corals and sea level, surface salinity, sea surface temperature, and rainfall in the South China Sea, subsequently reconstructing sea levels year by year.
The results indicate that sea levels in the South China Sea decreased on average by 0.73 mm per year from 1850 to 1900, before increasing by 1.31 mm per year from 1900 to 2015. Notably, since 1993, the sea level has risen rapidly, at a rate of 3.75 mm per year.
The study suggests that changes in sea level in the South China Sea may stem from solar activity and greenhouse gas emissions during the period from 1850 to 1950. Solar radiation has been a factor influencing climate change and sea level over billions of years, according to research from the University of Cambridge.
However, the recent rapid increase in sea level in the South China Sea is primarily attributed to greenhouse gas emissions, the study states.
In February, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that people in countries bordering the South China Sea will face unavoidable increasing damage to coastal settlements and infrastructure caused by rising sea levels.
