Sea Level Rise
View Sea Level Rise Gallery
There will always be beaches, but sea level rise will ensure that they will not be in the same place in the future. The beaches will still exist throughout this change, but many of the buildings may not. Efforts to save development, however do threaten beaches, such as shoreline armoring structures.
Although relative amounts of rise may seem very small, only a few millimeters per year, the cumulative effect of these small rises each year over a long period of time (100+ years) causes major problems. Accelerated rates of erosion are attributed to sea level rise and erosion causes large economic losses around the world each year due to the close proximity of buildings and critical infrastructure. This includes transportation systems, gas and oil lines as well as electricity lines and power plants.
Most developed coasts and beaches have buildings very close to the ocean leaving little room for the ever-expanding ocean. The future effects of sea level rise on coastal civilization over the entire world are of great concern. Over half of the world’s population lives within 100 km of the coast. Over the next 50 years, damage due to coastal development will be devastating, but if the rate of sea level rise increases, the results could be catastrophic. This issue threatens areas from New York City in the United States to the Pearl River Delta in China to the Maldives.
The world map below allows you to see elevations of coastal areas. Areas in red are the lowest in elevation and are most prone to flooding. Check out Manhattan in New York City. If you think the situation there looks dire, be sure to check out the effects of a 2 m rise in sea level on Pearl River Delta in China, home to more than 40 million people. Map courtesy of globalwarmingart.com
Surfing in / Sea Level Rise
Sea level rise poses serious threat to Charleston; By Orrin H. Pilkey
Rising seas are the first truly global environmental disaster related to climate change. Millions of people will be forced from their homes as the seas drown the atoll nations, devastate much of barrier-island and river-delta civilizations and, of course, invade the world’s coastal cities including Charleston.
Comments Off on Sea level rise poses serious threat to Charleston; By Orrin H. Pilkey
In rare move, one South Florida city sues another in battle over beach erosion
A spat over sand in adjacent cities finally landed in court this week, and it already has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Comments Off on In rare move, one South Florida city sues another in battle over beach erosion
Climate change could spell ‘extreme poverty’ in coastal NZ towns
Along New Zealand’s West Coast, the shoreline has been eroding for many years, the relentless sea moves closer by the day. Now the Tasman sea has snuck into some of the beach-front properties. With rising sea levels and more intense storms likely because of a warming climate, parts of Granity will become uninhabitable.
Comments Off on Climate change could spell ‘extreme poverty’ in coastal NZ towns
Sea Level Rise Will Reshape U.S. Population In All 50 States
Sea level rise could cause mass migrations that will affect not just the United States’ East Coast, but reshape communities deep in the heart of the country, according to new research published in the journal Nature Climate Change this week.
Comments Off on Sea Level Rise Will Reshape U.S. Population In All 50 States
When rising seas transform risk into certainty
Along parts of the East Coast, the entire system of insuring coastal property is beginning to break down.
Comments Off on When rising seas transform risk into certainty
Warning from IDB expert: Trinidad is shrinking
Trinidad is shrinking and changing as it becomes increasingly vulnerable to storms, flooding and other natural disasters which cause coastal erosion and the retreating of the shoreline. In Columbus Bay, in West Trinidad, the coastline has retreated by 150 metres since 1994, losing 6.5 hectares of land.
Comments Off on Warning from IDB expert: Trinidad is shrinking
As China’s Mudflats Disappear, Shorebird Populations Rapidly Decline
Populations of some migratory shorebirds are declining by as much as 8 percent per year as mudflats in the Yellow Sea between China and South Korea disappear due to rising sea levels and infrastructure projects, according to new research.
Comments Off on As China’s Mudflats Disappear, Shorebird Populations Rapidly Decline
Miami’s fight against rising seas
In the battle against rising seas, Florida – which has more to lose than almost anywhere else in the world – is becoming ground zero.
Comments Off on Miami’s fight against rising seas
Disappearing Beaches: Modeling Shoreline Change in Southern California
Using a newly-developed computer model, scientists predict that with limited human intervention, 31 to 67 percent of Southern California beaches may become completely eroded (up to existing coastal infrastructure or sea-cliffs) by the year 2100 under scenarios of sea-level rise of one to two meters.
Comments Off on Disappearing Beaches: Modeling Shoreline Change in Southern California
