Map of the Week – Global mean sea level regional trend
World Science Day for Peace and Development is celebrated each year on 10 November. This year, World Science Day highlighted the importance of “building climate-ready communities”. On this occasion, Director-General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay stated, "For climate change is a threat to us all. And when the entire planet is threatened, the entire planet must respond. But global solutions are impossible if half of humanity lacks access to the knowledge it needs. Today, on World Science Day for Peace and Development, let’s harness the potential of open science – not only to limit the impact of climate change, but also to shape a fairer and more peaceful world. Because we succeed or fail together, and we cannot afford to fail." [1]
This week also saw further negotiations at the UN Climate Conference, COP26, and the organization of a high number of side events at COP26 by a large variety of stakeholders. Many of the speeches and events were livestreamed and recorded, and the videos are available online. Notably on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) YouTube Channel and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s ‘IPCC at UNFCCC COP26’ webpage. Videos of events related to the ocean are also available on UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic COP26 webpage and in the Virtual Ocean Pavilion.
Sea level rise is one of the many impacts of climate change. Explore the Map of the Week to learn about the spatial distribution of sea level trends between 1993 and 2019. How this map will evolve in the coming years - how much sea levels will rise - depends on us and on our actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, adaptation will be key for coastal areas across the world.
The data in this map are provided by Copernicus Marine Service.
[1] https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379742