New Zealand Sea Level Rising More Quickly than Forecast

FILE - This March 30, 2004, file photo, shows Tarawa atoll, Kiribati. Ioane Teitiota and his wife fought for years to be allowed to stay in New Zealand as refugees, arguing that rising sea levels caused by global warming threaten the very existence of their tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati, one of the lowest lying countries on Earth. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
FILE - This March 30, 2004, file photo, shows Tarawa atoll, Kiribati. Ioane Teitiota and his wife fought for years to be allowed to stay in New Zealand as refugees, arguing that rising sea levels caused by global warming threaten the very existence of their tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati, one of the lowest lying countries on Earth. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
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New Zealand Sea Level Rising More Quickly than Forecast

FILE - This March 30, 2004, file photo, shows Tarawa atoll, Kiribati. Ioane Teitiota and his wife fought for years to be allowed to stay in New Zealand as refugees, arguing that rising sea levels caused by global warming threaten the very existence of their tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati, one of the lowest lying countries on Earth. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
FILE - This March 30, 2004, file photo, shows Tarawa atoll, Kiribati. Ioane Teitiota and his wife fought for years to be allowed to stay in New Zealand as refugees, arguing that rising sea levels caused by global warming threaten the very existence of their tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati, one of the lowest lying countries on Earth. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

The sea level is rising twice as fast as previously forecast around parts of New Zealand, according to research published Monday, putting the country's two largest cities at risk decades earlier than expected.

Government-backed data amassed from around the country's coastline found some areas are already sinking three to four millimeters per year, speeding up a long-expected threat, AFP said.

The projections, labelled "a bit terrifying" by one expert, are the result of an extensive five-year, government-funded research program -- NZ SeaRise -- that was the combined work of dozens of local and international scientists.

Their prognosis means authorities have much less time than expected to introduce climate adaptation plans, including relocating coastal communities.

NZ SeaRise co-leader Tim Naish, a professor at Wellington's Victoria University, said while the global sea level is expected to rise about half a meter by 2100, for substantial parts of New Zealand it could be closer to a meter because the land is sinking at the same time.

It is stark news for the capital city, Wellington, which could expect 30 centimeter sea level rise by 2040 -- a level that had not been expected before 2060.

With that rate of rise, Wellington residents can expect once-a-century flood damage every year on average.

"We have less time to act," Naish said. "You are going to see the impacts of quite damaging sea level rise much sooner than we thought. Roads and properties will be inundated.

"Yes, it is a bit terrifying but there is still time and I think that is the way to look at it."

Data shows the southeast coastline of the more-populated North Island is the most exposed, but numerous seaside communities and towns will be hit.

Auckland, which with 1.7 million residents is comfortably the country's largest city, is especially vulnerable.

It is predicted that the sea level will rise 50 percent faster in the city's downtown waterfront and in several central-city suburbs, with wide-ranging implications for house prices and insurance rates.

NZ SeaRise has developed an online tool to let residents and authorities check forecasts for their own stretch of coast -- allowing them to assess the risk of flooding and erosion.

"We still have time, but we don't have time to sit on our hands anymore," Naish said.

"If you're a council representative or you're a developer, or you're a decisions maker in the coastal areas of New Zealand you need to start thinking right now what the plan is for adapting to that sea-level rise."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said adaptation planning was already underway, including budgeting for the relocation of some communities and infrastructure away from vulnerable coastlines.

"The first port of call isn't necessarily managed retreat because there are a range of options that can be used," she told Radio New Zealand.

"We're working alongside local government and insurers to work through who bears the costs of some of these options. The cost that needs to be borne, won't fall on one party."

Ardern said New Zealanders shouldn't accept that sea level rises are inevitable beyond those predicted for the near term and that every citizen should do all they can to reduce emissions and diminish the impacts of climate change.

Global sea level rise is caused by thermal expansion of the ocean, by melting land-based glaciers, and by the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.



Grievances and Forgiveness Were Both on Display in Prince Harry’s Raw TV Interview

Britain's Prince Harry departs after attending court for his appeal against the rejection of his legal challenge to the British government's decision to take away his police protection when he is in Britain, outside the High Court in London, Britain, April 9, 2025. (Reuters)
Britain's Prince Harry departs after attending court for his appeal against the rejection of his legal challenge to the British government's decision to take away his police protection when he is in Britain, outside the High Court in London, Britain, April 9, 2025. (Reuters)
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Grievances and Forgiveness Were Both on Display in Prince Harry’s Raw TV Interview

Britain's Prince Harry departs after attending court for his appeal against the rejection of his legal challenge to the British government's decision to take away his police protection when he is in Britain, outside the High Court in London, Britain, April 9, 2025. (Reuters)
Britain's Prince Harry departs after attending court for his appeal against the rejection of his legal challenge to the British government's decision to take away his police protection when he is in Britain, outside the High Court in London, Britain, April 9, 2025. (Reuters)

The rift between Prince Harry and his family has burst into the open again with the prince’s raw television interview after losing a court case over his security.

In a long and at times emotional conversation, the 40-year-old prince said he wants reconciliation, while re-airing grievances against the royal family, the UK government and the media.

Here are key takeaways from Friday’s BBC interview:

A security feud has deepened the royal rift Harry said his father, King Charles III, won’t speak to him because of “this security stuff” – a legal wrangle over protection for the prince when he is in Britain.

“This, at the heart of it, is a family dispute,” he said.

Harry has been estranged from his family since he and his wife Meghan quit royal duties in 2020 and moved to the United States, alleging hostility and racist attitudes by the press and royal establishment. Harry’s tell-all 2023 memoir “Spare,” stuffed with private details and embarrassing revelations, made things worse.

But Harry said what’s souring the relationship now is a decision to remove his police protection detail after he stopped being a working royal. On Friday the Court of Appeal in London rejected Harry’s bid to restore the protection, saying a government committee was justified in deciding that security should be assessed on a case-by-case basis whenever Harry visits the UK.

Harry blamed the palace, alleging that the decision to withdraw his security had been made at the direction of royal officials, who sit on the committee alongside police and government representatives. He said they were “knowingly putting me and my family in harm’s way,” hoping that the sense of threat “would force us to come back.”

He suggested his father was part of the problem, saying he’d asked the king “to step out of the way and let the experts do their job.”

Harry highlighted health concerns about the king King Charles, 76, has been treated for an undisclosed cancer for more than a year. Buckingham Palace has given infrequent updates, and has not disclosed what form of cancer the king has.

Harry, who has met his father only once, briefly, since his diagnosis early last year, said “I don’t know how much longer my father has.”

He held out little hope of another meeting soon.

“The only time I come back to the UK, is, sadly, for funerals or court cases,” he said.

After taking several months off last year, Charles has returned to a full slate of public duties. This week he told a reception for cancer charities that being diagnosed was “a daunting and at times frightening experience.” He added: “I can vouch for the fact that it can also be an experience that brings into sharp focus the very best of humanity.”

Harry fears for his life and safety Harry has well-founded concerns for the safety of himself and his family.

He is fifth in line to the throne, behind his brother William and William’s three children. He spent 10 years in the British army, serving two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

Harry said that before 2020 he was placed in the highest tier of at-risk royals, alongside his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.

Since then, he has been stripped of taxpayer-funded police protection, and also denied permission to pay for it himself, leaving private security his only option.

He said that is not as good as police protection, which is provided for life to “people who leave public office,” such as former prime ministers.

“I can never leave the royal family,” he said. “I was born into those risks, and they've only increased over time.”

He claimed that “some people want history to repeat itself,” an apparent reference to the death of his mother Princess Diana. She was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi.

He worries his children will lose part of their heritage Harry, Meghan and their children Archie, 5, and 3-year-old Lilibet, currently live in California, and Harry said he “can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK.”

The prince said he loves Britain and “it’s really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland.”

Harry claimed that he and his family are endangered when visiting Britain because of hostility aimed at him and Meghan on social media and through relentless hounding by news media.

Harry wants reconciliation with his family – but it may not be imminent Harry’s explosive memoir “Spare” scattered bitterness and blame at Charles, Queen Camilla – Harry’s stepmother – and his elder brother William.

In the interview, he said he could forgive his family, and even the British press that he reviles and has repeatedly sued.

“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry said.

Historian Anthony Seldon said Harry had chosen his words deliberately to signal he “wants to make a new start.”

“There will be no more spiteful books,” Seldon told Sky News. “He has signaled he wants to be back in a way that needs to be worked out.”

But Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine, said it's hard to see how reconciliation can happen.

“He clearly feels aggrieved at the outcome of this legal action, but there is a great deal to be gained by maintaining a dignified silence,” Little said. “Sadly, as we know from past events, this isn’t Harry’s way of doing things.”