TITLE:
Empirical Assessment of Coastal Environmental Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise
AUTHORS:
Martin Lee Collin, Abraham J. Melloul
KEYWORDS:
Sea Level Rise (SLR), Causal and Enhancement Factors of SLR, Impact on Coastal Environment, Sea Water Intrusion, Vulnerability to SLR
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.5 No.12,
September
24,
2014
ABSTRACT: Sea level
rise (SLR) could critically endanger the environment along all the world’s sea
coasts. Although sudden SLRs of meters-high waves that might have apocalyptic
results would generally be limited to specific areas, on-going SLR of dozens of
cms over decades is likely to have adverse impact on coastal environments
throughout the world. This study’s objective is to assess relative regional
vulnerability of global sea coasts to SLR. The study focuses upon key natural
and anthropogenic parameters that might either cause or enhance SLR and thus
significantly influence regional coastal environments. Careful assessment can
enable reasonable estimates of relative vulnerability of such environments. An
initial step involves specifying key parameters and assigning their weightings
and ratings. To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, six seacoast
regions from various parts of the world have been considered in this paper,
assessing their natural and anthropogenic parameters vis-à-vis general global data. The results emphasize the relative
vulnerability of these areas’ environments to SLR. Recommendations are then
made for improving global SLR modeling and monitoring.