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.



10 Endangered Black Rhinos Sent from S.Africa to Mozambique

Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)
Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)
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10 Endangered Black Rhinos Sent from S.Africa to Mozambique

Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)
Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)

Ten black rhinos have been moved from South Africa to Mozambique to secure breeding of the critically endangered animals that became locally extinct 50 years ago, conservationists said Thursday.

The five male and five female rhinos were transferred to Mozambique's Zinave National Park in a 48-hour road trip last week, said the Peace Parks Foundation, which took part in the translocation.

"It was necessary to introduce these 10 to make the population viable," communication coordinator Lesa van Rooyen told AFP.

The new arrivals will "secure the first founder population of black rhinos since becoming locally extinct five decades ago,” South Africa's environment ministry, which was also involved, said in a statement.

Twelve black rhinos had previously been sent from South Africa to Zinave in central Mozambique but the population was still not viable for breeding, Van Rooyen said.

Twenty-five white rhinos, which are classified as less threatened, were also translocated in various operations.

The global black rhino population dropped by 96 percent between 1970 and 1993, reaching a low of only 2,300 surviving in the wild, according to the International Rhino Foundation.

Decades of conservation efforts allowed the species to slowly recover and the population is estimated at 6,421 today.

Once abundant across sub-Saharan Africa, rhino numbers fell dramatically due to hunting by European colonizers and large-scale poaching, with their horns highly sought after on black markets particularly in Asia.

Mozambique's population of the large animals was depleted during the 15-year civil war, which ended in 1992 and pushed many people to desperate measures to "survive in very difficult circumstances", van Rooyen said.

Years of rewilding efforts have established Zinave as Mozambique’s only national park home to the "Big Five" game animals -- elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo.