Climate change is among other factors threatening river deltas, new report warns

The Australian news network—The Conversation—has published a report in which it said that “River deltas are threatened by more than climate change – leaving hundreds of millions of people at risk.”

It added that: “In recent times, coastal river deltas have become hubs of the global shipping trade, giving rise to fast-growing megacities such as Dhaka, Cairo and Shanghai. But these areas are now under threat.”

The Australian network continued “Our recent research reveals that 49 deltas around the world, including the Nile, Mekong, and Mississippi are facing growing risks under all of the IPCC’s future scenarios for climate change and development.”

The report further explained: “Our analysis shows that certain risks are more critical to some deltas than others. These risks include land subsidence, increasing population density, intensive agriculture, ineffective governance and a lack of capacity to adapt.”