Rising seas, also fueled by the climate crisis, pose a critical threat to many of the world’s biggest oil ports, recent analysis has shown. Researchers pointed out the irony of fossil fuel consumers now endangering the infrastructures set up to facilitate the exportation of oil due to global warming that it provides through consumption. Transition to renewable energy can help bring down emissions, slow sea levels, and safeguard energy security.
It has also found that the 13 ports of significant supertanker traffic have great vulnerability to critical damage in a 1-meter sea level rise. These ports include Ras Tanura and Yanbu of Saudi Arabia, from which the nation exports 98% of oil. Other than these, several serious threats face America’s oil ports in Houston and Galveston, and even those of UAE, China, Singapore, and the Netherlands.
According to research by the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative, a sea level rise of 1 meter is inevitable within a century, which may happen as early as 2070 without significant emissions reductions. Worse, a 3-meter rise could become a reality by the early 2100s if ice sheet collapses accelerate.
Sea level rise is already affecting coastal areas through increased storm surges and saltwater intrusion, which destroy infrastructure and agricultural land. Scientists argue that a sharp cut in emissions would not only slow sea level rise but also limit its ultimate extent.
According to Pam Pearson, director of ICCI, oil ports are vulnerable. She said, “It’s ironic that the very fossil fuel they contribute to distributing ends up destroying these facilities.” James Kirkham, chief science adviser of ICCI, said: “Continued fossil fuel use accelerates sea levels, which hurts every coastal nation, and ones that resist decarbonization efforts most of all.
Saudi oil giant Aramco declined to comment on the findings. Saudi Arabia, accused of obstructing climate action at recent global summits, also blocked progress in negotiations addressing desertification and drought.
The study concluded that Ras Tanura and Yanbu alone shipped $214 billion worth of oil in 2023. According to researchers, even though the construction of flood defenses may safeguard economies and infrastructure in the short term, reliance on fossil fuels merely shifts the escalating problems. It provides a solution toward renewable energy that can make it sustainable.
