New York: Rising sea levels caused by climate change will further exacerbate the destructive power of tsunamis, according to United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres
In a message marking World Tsunami Day, he urged countries to limit warming to 1.5 degrees over pre-industrial averages and invest at scale in the resilience of coastal communities.
"On World Tsunami Awareness Day, we call on countries, international bodies, and civil society to increase understanding about the threat and share innovative approaches to reduce risks," he said.
"We can build on progress achieved – ranging from better outreach to tsunami-exposed communities around the world, to the inclusion of a Tsunami Programme in the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development," he added.
Tsunamis are rare events but can be extremely deadly.
In the past 100 years, 58 of them have claimed more than 260,000 lives, or an average of 4,600 per disaster - more than any other natural disaster.
The highest number of deaths occurred in the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, that caused an estimated 227,000 fatalities across 14 countries.
Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were the hardest hit.
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