World climate change takes toll on China's seas

BEIJING - Climate change around the world has caused sea levels along China's coasts to rise more than 80 millimeters over the last three decades, according to figures in a national report released by the government in Beijing on Tuesday

Such a rise marks an average increase of 2.6 millimeters each year from 1977 to 2009, said the second National Assessment Report on Climate Change.

According to the report, the sea level in China will continue to rise and a total of 18,000 square kilometers of coastal land is likely to be submerged in 2080, with levels increasing the most in Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangdong.