Professor Son Seok-woo of Seoul National University SBS Radio Interview
"Three Sides of the Korean Peninsula Surrounded by Sea... Rapid Temperature Rise"
Amid climate anomalies occurring worldwide, causing large wildfires and elevated sea temperatures that threaten the survival of marine life such as fish and coral reefs, Professor Son Seok-woo of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Seoul National University warned that the Korean Peninsula is "no exception."
On the 28th, Professor Son appeared on SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' and explained, "On the 13th, 14th, and 15th, there was an enormous amount of rainfall in the Chungcheong and Jeonbuk regions, and in the area where the flooding incident occurred at the Gungpyeong Underpass in Cheongju, more than 300mm of rain fell in a single day," adding, "This is the case with the heaviest rainfall in history."
A citizen passing through Marronnier Park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, is shading their eyes from the sunlight with their hand. Photo by Yonhap News
He continued, "While such extreme rains are falling heavily, on the other hand, heatwave warnings have been issued in areas where there is no rain," and said, "Heavy rain and heatwaves are occurring alternately, and extreme climate change is continuing on the Korean Peninsula as well."
Professor Son stated, "The Korean Peninsula is more strongly affected by global warming," and said, "As the sky warms, the warming of the sea determines the temperature of the region, and the Korean Peninsula is surrounded by the sea on three sides."
He added, "Since the seawater is continuously warming, the greenhouse effect combined with the warming seawater is causing the temperature of our Korean Peninsula to rise more steeply than other regions."
Professor Son predicted that extreme heatwaves and heavy rains will repeatedly occur on the Korean Peninsula due to global warming. He said, "Heavy rain and no rain occur alternately, but the overall trend is upward, with extremes repeating," and added, "Overall, temperatures are warming and rainfall is expected to increase."
Professor Son pointed out that although the international community has agreed to limit the global average temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100, the rise in average temperature is steep. He said, "The World Meteorological Organization reported that July this year will be recorded as the hottest July in history," and added, "It is estimated that by the end of this year, the increase will be about 1.1 degrees rather than 1.04 degrees. That means only 0.4 degrees remain."
Furthermore, Professor Son said, "Limiting the rise to 1.5 degrees is actually a very challenging task," and emphasized, "(Efforts to reduce carbon emissions) should not be limited to Europe; China, the United States, and South Korea, which emit the most carbon dioxide, must also start efforts to reduce carbon emissions."
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