China's coastal sea waters have risen by 3.4 millimetres per annum over the 1980-2020 period and hit their third highest level on record last year, the country's environment ministry said on Wednesday.
In its annual bulletin on the state of the country's environment, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) said China's coastal waters were now 73 millimetres higher than "normal", defined as the average over the 1993-2011 period.
The ministry also said that average national temperatures stood at 10.25 degrees Celsius in 2020, slightly lower than the year before but still 0.7 degrees higher than the 1981-2010 average.
Global sea levels have risen as a result of warmer water temperatures as well as melting glaciers and ice sheets.
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