- (AFP) - Global warming could submerge three of India's
biggest cities beneath the sea by 2020 unless the crisis was brought under
control, an Indian scientist warned yesterday.
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- "If the warming continues, there will be about half
to one metre increase in sea level by 2020 and cities like Bombay, Calcutta
and Madras will be completely submerged," said Rajiv Nigam, a scientist
with the Geological Oceanography Division in the western Indian state of
Goa.
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- He said a one-metre rise in sea level could cause five
trillion rupees ($A147.24 billion) worth of damage to property in Goa alone.
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- "If this is the quantum of damage in a small state
like Goa that has only two districts, imagine the extent of property loss
in metros like Bombay," he added at a workshop in the National College
in Dirudhy, Tamil Nadu state.
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- He also predicted that global warming could cause frequent
cyclones along the coastal areas and affect the annual monsoon rain, which
is crucial for India's farm-dependent economy.
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