The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA, has created an interactive system that allows us to know which places in the world will be most affected by the rise in sea level. The tool allows you to visualize and download data on these projections, based on the sixth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Among them, NASA reports that the Canary Islands has several points in danger due to the rise in sea level, one of them in Lanzarote.
The IPCC is a United Nations body that was created to provide scientific advice on climate change. Among other things, it allows the creation of consensus projections on possible future scenarios. Specifically, it bases the predictions on data collected between 1995 and 2014 and draws up to five possible situations, depending on the increase in Earth's temperature and whether or not states manage to curb the emission of greenhouse gases.
Broadly speaking, the best-case scenario predicts that the global temperature of the planet will increase by 1.5 degrees in 2100 compared to what it was between 1850 and 1900. This would imply reaching zero CO2 emissions in 2050. According to these forecasts, if the temperature increase is 1.5 degrees by the end of the century, during the decade of 2040 the sea will increase by 0.14 meters in Arrecife. Meanwhile, in 2080 it will grow to 0.33 meters and in 2150 it will reach half a meter.
If, on the contrary, the worst climate scenarios are met and the five degrees of mismatch are reached, the sea could rise up to 0.81 meters by the end of this century and up to 1.29 meters in 2150. If this reality is even exceeded, an increase of 0.79 meters could be reached in 2100 and it could reach up to 2.04 meters of sea level rise in 2150.
In a talk given last year in Lanzarote, the expert in coastal engineering, climate change and offshore energy Íñigo Losada explained that "in the worst scenarios", where a higher frequency of extreme episodes is expected, part of the center of Arrecife would sink. For example, affecting spaces such as La Plazuela.
