Impacts of Climate Change Sea Level Rise Infrastructure

Impacts of Climate Change: Sea Level Rise & Infrastructure David Ahmed, Peter Fath, Ben Lapidus, and Hilary Sandborn CPSG 101 Science & Global Change First Year Colloquium II April 24, 2018 Future Implications Impacts Introduction 1 • Sea level rise is caused by thermal expansion caused by the warming of the ocean (water expands as it warms). 2 • It is also caused by increased melting of land-based ice. 2 • Over the past century, the Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL) has risen by 4 to 9 inches. 3 • The annual rate of rise over the past 20 years has been 0. 13 inches a year, which is about twice the speed of the preceding 80 years. 3 5 • The “Low Elevation Coastal Zone” (LECZ) is the region encompassing every major body of water that is vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal flooding. 6 • An estimated 1. 4 billion people may live in the LECZ by 2060, paving the way for potential disaster. 6 • Average global flood losses in 2005 are estimated to be approximately US$6 billion per year, increasing to US$52 billion by 2050 with projected socio-economic change alone. 8 • Researchers note that some regions will be more widely affected than others, the vulnerable countries being China, India, and likely island dwelling populations. 6 • More than 90 coastal communities are already battling chronic flooding. 6 • Flooding is having major impacts of the economy in low lying areas. It is expensive to repair damage and protect cities. 6 • Sea level rise also impacts wildlife, such as Shorebirds. Flooding in low lying areas is destroying wildlife habitats. 7 4 4 Bibliography: 1. Howard, B. 2015. “Prediction of Rapid Sea Level Rise Won’t Change Global Climate Change. ” National Geographic. Accessed 1 April 2018. 2. Cronin, T. M. 2012. Rapid sea-level rise. Quaternary Science Reviews 56: 11 -30. doi: 10. 1016/j. quascirev. 2012. 08. 021 3. Anonymous. 2018. “Sea Level Rise. ” National Geographic. Accessed 1 April 2018. 4. Douglas, B. C. 1997. “Global sea rise: A redetermination. ” Surveys in Geophysics, 18, 279 -292. Accessed 1 April 2018. 5. Jenik, C. 2015. “The Cities Most Threatened by Rising Sea Levels. ” The Statistics Portal. Accessed 1 April 2018. 6. Neumann, B. , A. T. , Vafeidis, R. J. , Nicholls. 2015. Future Coastal Population Growth and Exposure to Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Flooding – A Global Assessment. PLo. S ONE 10(6): e 0131375. 7. Galbraith, H. , R. Jones, R. Park, J. Clough, S. Herrod-Julius, B. Harrington and G. Page. 2001. Global Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: Potential Losses of Intertidal Habitat for Shorebirds. The Waterbird Society 25: 173 -183. doi: 10. 1675/1524 -4695 8. Hallegatte, S. , et al. 2013. Future Flood Losses in Major Coastal Cities. Nature Climate Change. 3: 802– 806. doi: 10. 1038/nclimate 1979