New Zealand: Cyberattack hits 'SeaRise' website to show sharp rise in projected sea levels

The website that tracks sea levels in New Zealand was hit by a cyberattack on April 30, leading to false reports showing sea levels rising twice as fast as previously thought in some parts of Aotearoa.

According to a report published on RNZ, project co-leader and Victoria University of Wellington earth sciences Professor Tim Naish revealed that the forecast website went live this morning at 5 am and since then, it has been getting 10,000 hits per second, leading to the crash of the webpage. "We're trying to get it back up and running," he added.

Cyber attack hits NZ SeaRise website

Naish explained that the hacker must be using an Autobot because the hits are coming from an "overseas IP address". It is hitting the website again and again, and the "website can't cope," he said. He further stated the whole situation was frustrating as people started asking for the comments of local government mayors. It also created a feeling of fear and concern among residents as to what was about to happen to their property, reported RNZ.

Sea levels are rising in New Zealand

Location-specific sea level rise projections to the year 2300 for every 2km of the coast of New Zealand were shown on the NZ website 'SeaRise'. Naish said that small and large seismic events were adding to the sea level in several parts of New Zealand, and the new data showed that sea level could double every year. Meanwhile, project co-leader and GNS Science associate professor Richard Levy stated that the team had linked vertical land movement data with climate-driven sea-level rise in order to provide locally-relevant sea level data.

"Property owners, councils, infrastructure providers, and others need to know how sea level will change in the coming decades so that they can consider how risks associated with flooding, erosion, and rising groundwater will shift." He further said, "We have estimated future sea levels for 7,434 sites around our coastline. The largest increases in sea level will occur along the southeast coast of the North Island, along the Wairarapa coast." Levy stated that the sea level could rise by over 1.5m by 2100, adding ''here, land subsidence rates are high, and the sea level could rise by well over 1.5m by 2100 if we follow the least optimistic climate change scenario."

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