In December, the world's scientific community was abuzz over the results of the United Nations climate talks held in Durban, South Africa. By 2020, there will be a new international treaty to address global warming and it will be legally binding. For China, where a national report on climate change was published just a month prior to the conference, the Durban talks could influence how the country addresses the threat of rising sea levels.

According to the Second National Assessment Report on Climate Change co-authored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Chinese Meteorological Association, by 2030 China's sea levels may rise an additional 130 mm due to global warming.

While 130 mm is not much taller than a pen, seen through a historical lens, this figure provides a sobering perspective. According to the Climate Institute, a renowned international non-governmental organization made up of scientists and policy-makers, it took nearly 100 years over the last century for levels to rise by 150 to 200 mm. The current Chinese assessment posits that a similar rise could occur within the next 20 years.

Rising sea levels are directly related to warming trends. Chinese scientists have documented an average land surface temperature increase of nearly 1.4 degrees Celsius over the last 60 years in China. In the 1980s, James Hansen, an American atmospheric scientist, made headlines with his assertion that anything above a 2-degree rise in land surface temperature would spell disaster for the planet. Since then, the 2-degree threshold has become an internationally recognized standard, suggesting that crossing this threshold would make it impossible to reverse course even with further reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

The 1.4-degree warming has already had a profound impact on China. According to the national report, 10 percent of the country's mountain glaciers have disappeared. Melted ice from these slow-moving masses raises the water volume of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, which ultimately empty into the East China Sea and the northern Bohai Sea respectively. This extra volume of water from inland sources causes sea levels to rise faster than melting ice from Antarctic ice sheets and other glaciers already in the sea.

Such rising sea levels are expected to submerge 18,000 square km of coastal lowlands around China. But in a troubling twist, 130 mm is not the highest increase anticipated. Metropolises like Tianjin and Shanghai could see levels spike at nearly 150 mm by 2030. Guangdong Province in the south also faces a threat from rising sea levels. The last report of this kind was published four years ago. Whether these numbers will be revised upward in a Third Assessment remains to be seen.

Tech Bytes

➲ This first month of 2012 will mark the arrival of the first $50 smartphone. Chinese manufacturer Spreadtrum is releasing phone chipsets that support Google's Android operating system, and will be compatible with China Mobile's 3G network. China Mobile is China's largest mobile telecommunications company. While its use of Spreadtrum's technology will be accompanied by a price drop for consumers, other mobile operators may follow suit. Up until now, the most affordable smartphones have been in the $100 range.

➲ Egyptian scientists are developing a new diabetes drug from an ancient cure. Bitter gourd, traditionally used in Chinese medicine, is a plant believed to prevent the breakdown of insulin in the stomach (this breakdown is why diabetes patients currently must receive the hormone by injection). The chemical structure of bitter gourd is close to bovine insulin, and the plant also thrives in desert climates. Egypt's National Research Center is working in tandem with a national pharmaceutical company to produce a pill form of the plant extract. If successful, it may offer an alternative for needle-adverse patients.

➲ Bamboo charcoal, a noted "green" biofuel largely produced in China, is beginning to take hold in Sub-Saharan Africa where firewood is currently the largest fuel source. Charcoal technology projects employing the fast-growing plant in Ethiopia and Ghana have the backing of the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan. The organization is pushing the fuel because it circumvents deforestation concerns and allows for technology transference.