According
to the article of Robert J. Nicholls and Anny Cazenave (2010), the sea level rise is
due to the dilatation of the ocean (30%), the loss of the glacier (60%) and to
the human activities as the ground water mining for example (10%).
More
important, this article enlighten us on a very critical point. The sea level
rise is not uniform over the earth. The rise of the West Pacific Ocean is three
times more important than on the North American Coast. Thus, all the coasts
will not pay equally the consequences of the SLR. Thus the SLR will be up to
30cm to 180cm in 2100.
The
impacts on the coastal zone are the submergence and flooding of the lowest
zone. Also, some intrusion of salt water in the surface waters and groundwater,
but also the pressure on many coastal ecosystems as the Mangroves and the
corals. These impacts will be proportioned to the relative SLR because the
coast are upwelling in some regions and subsiding in some other, especially in
the important metropoles multiplying the cost of societies.
These impact will have major socio-economic
consequences. Indeed the coastal ecosystems and landscapes are often a source
of income for the touristic economy. The effects on tourism could be serious
for many countries.
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| Below sea level lands in Netherlands |
However,
the authors are very confident in the human capacity of adaption and to their
point of view, major population retreat are going to be inevitable. They use
the example of the Netherlands who are already reinforcing their seawall. The
Netherlands which have already many lands below the sea level have the means to act against
the risks. Not all the countries have these means making them much more exposed than the Netherlands.
Bibliography:
Bibliography:
Nicholls, R.J. & Cazenave, A. 2010. Sea Level Rise and its impacts on coastal zones. Science. Vol. 328. No.5985. p1517-1520. http://www.sciencemag.org.libproxy.ucl.ac.uk/content/328/5985/1517.full
Hi! Interesting topic, and close to my heart, as your picture shows that my hometown would be flooded.
RépondreSupprimerThe Netherlands indeed does a lot in order to secure our country from serious water damage or flooded land, especially after the huge disaster in 1953. We have the afsluitdijk, the locks that close in case of severe storm (the Maaslandkering) and the most innovative project that is in process now: actually heightening our shoreline by creating an artificial sand bank. Have a look at this if you want to know more, it's a great article: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3020918/how-the-netherlands-became-the-biggest-exporter-of-resilience?partner=newsletter
Cheers, Larissa