Climate Change, Sea Level Rise and Protecting Displaced Coastal Communities: Possible Solutions

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony George Puthucherril
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Coastal Zone Management ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Coastal Communities ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Small Island Developing States ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Technological Support

Climate change and sea level rise are realities that are upon us and which will profoundly impact the lives and basic rights of millions of coastal residents all over the world. As the law stands both at the international and at certain national levels, the basic human rights of the climate displaced are not adequately protected. This paper identifies two possible displacement scenarios, based on the continued availability/non-availability of land in the face of sea level rise and other climate change impacts; namely, the sinking Small Island Developing States phenomeon, where land disappears and there is no surplus land to support habitation, and all other cases, where the coastal land is battered severely but it can be re-utilized through appropriate adaptation measures or even if coastal frontage land disappears there is still land available inland. On this basis, the paper proposes three possible solutions: (1) bilateral or regional treaties to facilitate resettlement of the inhabitants of sinking Small Island Developing States, (2) appropriate coastal climate change adaptation implemented via integrated coastal zone management and (3) creation of new arrangements under the international climate change regime to provide financial assistance and technological support to respond to both situations. Even though the primary focus of this paper is on coastal communities in South Asia, the lessons that it offers are relevant to other coastal contexts as well.

Climate Change and Changing Coasts

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Schofield
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Coastal Ecosystems ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Small Island Developing States ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Global Sea Level

Sea level rise has provoked widespread concerns that low-lying parts of coastal States including parts or even the entirety of small island developing States face a looming threat of erosion and inundation. Concerns over the potential impacts of sea level rise on the location of baselines along the coast and therefore on the scope of national claims to maritime jurisdiction have also been raised. The article outlines climate change impacts on the oceans before briefly reviewing projections of sea level rise. A number of the complexities and uncertainties which make prediction of the scale and speed of global sea level rise problematic are highlighted. The importance of assessing relative sea level against the contrasting responses of coasts with diverse geophysical characteristics and distinct coastal ecosystems is emphasised. Potential impacts on island coastlines in the Pacific are then considered and implications maritime claims discussed.

scholarly journals In Search of Higher Ground

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 3-11
Author(s):  
Bronwyn Russel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Political History ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Small Island Developing States ◽  
New Era ◽  
Extreme Risk ◽  
The World ◽  
First Time

The world is on the precipice of a new era in political history. For the first time in 400 years there will soon be fewer states in the world, as even the most modest estimates of sea level rise place the first of the small island Developing states (siDs), along with its population of over 13,000, underwater within the next 20 years. These are not the only states and individuals at extreme risk of soon finding themselves forcibly displaced by climate change.

scholarly journals The Vulnerability of Health Infrastructure to the Impacts of Climate Change and Sea Level Rise in Small Island Countries in the South Pacific

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 117863292110208
Author(s):  
Subhashni Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Marshall Islands ◽  
World Health ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Medical Facilities ◽  
Medical Infrastructure

Anthropogenic climate change and related sea level rise will have a range of impacts on populations, particularly in the low lying Pacific island countries (PICs). One of these impacts will be on the health and well-being of people in these nations. In such cases, access to medical facilities is important. This research looks at the medical facilities currently located on 14 PICs and how climate change related impacts such as sea level rise may affect these facilities. The medical infrastructure in each country were located using information from a range of sources such as Ministry of Health (MoH) websites, World Health Organization, Doctors Assisting in South Pacific Islands (DAISI), Commonwealth Health Online, and Google Maps. A spatial analysis was undertaken to identify medical infrastructure located within 4 zones from the coastline of each country: 0 to 50 m, 50 to 100 m, 100 to 200 m, and 200 to 500 m. The findings indicate that 62% of all assessed medical facilities in the 14 PICs are located within 500 m of the coast. The low-lying coral atoll countries of Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Tokelau, and Tuvalu will be highly affected as all medical facilities in these countries fall within 500 m of the coast. The results provide a baseline analysis of the threats posed by sea-level rise to existing critical medical infrastructure in the 14 PICs and could be useful for adaptive planning. These countries have limited financial and technical resources which will make adaptation challenging.

scholarly journals Using Virtual Reality in Sea Level Rise Planning and Community Engagement—An Overview

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1142
Author(s):  
Juliano Calil ◽  
Geraldine Fauville ◽  
Anna Carolina Muller Queiroz ◽  
Kelly L. Leo ◽  
Alyssa G. Newton Mann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Community Outreach ◽  
Coastal Communities ◽  
Coastal Hazards ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Simple Task ◽  
Coastal Risks

As coastal communities around the globe contend with the impacts of climate change including coastal hazards such as sea level rise and more frequent coastal storms, educating stakeholders and the general public has become essential in order to adapt to and mitigate these risks. Communicating SLR and other coastal risks is not a simple task. First, SLR is a phenomenon that is abstract as it is physically distant from many people; second, the rise of the sea is a slow and temporally distant process which makes this issue psychologically distant from our everyday life. Virtual reality (VR) simulations may offer a way to overcome some of these challenges, enabling users to learn key principles related to climate change and coastal risks in an immersive, interactive, and safe learning environment. This article first presents the literature on environmental issues communication and engagement; second, it introduces VR technology evolution and expands the discussion on VR application for environmental literacy. We then provide an account of how three coastal communities have used VR experiences developed by multidisciplinary teams—including residents—to support communication and community outreach focused on SLR and discuss their implications.

Adaptation to Climate Change in Small Island Developing States: A Systematic Literature Review of Academic Research

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carola Klöck ◽  
Patrick D. Nunn
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Small Island Developing States ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Island States ◽  
Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽  
The Pacific

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share a common vulnerability to climate change. Adaptation to climate change and variability is urgently needed yet, while some is already occurring in SIDS, research on the nature and efficacy of adaptation across SIDS is fragmentary. In this article, we systematically review academic literature to identify where adaptation in SIDS is documented; what type of adaptation strategies are taken, and in response to which climate change impacts; and the extent to which this adaptation has been judged as successful. Our analysis indicates that much adaptation research is concentrated on the Pacific, on independent island states, and on core areas within SIDS. Research documents a wide array of adaptation strategies across SIDS, notably structural or physical and behavioral changes. Yet, evaluation of concrete adaptation interventions is lacking; it thus remains unclear to what extent documented adaptation effectively and sustainably reduces SIDS’ vulnerability and increases their resilience.

Influence of sea level rise on discounting, resource use and migration in small-island communities: an agent-based modelling approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
ADAM DOUGLAS HENRY ◽  
ANDREAS EGELUND CHRISTENSEN ◽  
REBECCA HOFMANN ◽  
IVO STEIMANIS ◽  
BJÖRN VOLLAN
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Resource Conservation ◽  
Discount Rates ◽  
Time Discounting ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Island Communities

SUMMARYTime discounting – the degree to which individuals value current more than future resources – is an important component of natural resource conservation. As a response to climate change impacts in island communities, such as sea level rise, discounting the future can be a rational response due to increased stress on natural resources and uncertainty about whether future generations will have the same access to the same resources. By incorporating systematic responses of discount rates into models of resource conservation, realistic expectations of future human responses to climate change and associated resource stress may be developed. This paper illustrates the importance of time discounting through a theoretical agent-based model of resource use in island communities. A discount rate change can dramatically change projections about future migration and community-based conservation efforts. Our simulation results show that an increase in discount rates due to a credible information shock about future climate change impacts is likely to speed resource depletion. The negative impacts of climate change are therefore likely to be underestimated if changes in discount rates and emerging migration patterns are not taken into account.

scholarly journals Interdisciplinary assessment of sea-level rise and climate change impacts on the lower Nile delta, Egypt

2015 ◽  
Vol 503-504 ◽  
pp. 279-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janez Sušnik ◽  
Lydia S. Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia ◽  
Niklas Baumert ◽  
Julia Kloos ◽  
Fabrice G. Renaud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Nile Delta ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Interdisciplinary Assessment

scholarly journals Crossover comparison of climate-change adaptation measures taken in the Gdansk (Baltic-sea) and Rotterdam (Nord-sea) deltas.

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Fred Sanders ◽  
Hugo Sanders ◽  
Karen Jonkers
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Change Trend ◽  
Vistula Delta ◽  
Crossover Comparison

Gdansk in Poland and the Netherlands share a long-term relationship that started with the establishment of Dutch Mennonites in the Vistula delta in the 16th Century. Climate-change figures show that both the Polish Gdansk and DutchRotterdam deltas will suffer flooding due to sea level rise, with accumulating severe rainfall accompanied by high river levels; reasons that led to a comparison of the adaptation measures taken. On the basis of the crossover comparison studied, it can be concluded that Poland and the Netherlands have a virtually identical approach when it comes to climate-change impacts on their current situation. With regard to the long-term climate-change trend, the Netherlands in exploring for the future more ‘anticipatory’ measures with the development of new scenarios for the protection of land and cities. In the Netherlands the use of Hackathon approach is thereby used more often to explore such scenarios. The interaction between the experts and stakeholders of different expertise in this methodology show to lead to creative and new perspectives. This approach may also be recommended for the situation in Gdansk.

scholarly journals Sea Level Rise and Local Government

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa James ◽  
Catherine Iorns ◽  
Patrick Gerard
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Coastal Communities ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Hazard Management ◽  
National Environmental

Local authorities in New Zealand have a significant responsibility to their communities for managing the effects of sea level rise due to climate change. However, while most local authorities are well engaged and have a clear understanding of issues arising from sea level rise, 73% report that their organisations do not receive enough direction from central government on how to respond. Territorial authorities in particular are seeking a stronger lead, such as legislative reform, clearer and more directive policy, clarification of responsibilities, or a national environmental standard on coastal hazard management. Central government direction is seen as critical to achieve a nationally consistent and equitable approach for coastal communities. This article summarises how this could be addressed, and identifies key challenges facing local government in adapting to sea level rise and climate change.

scholarly journals Creating a climate changed future with the sea level rise interactive- fiction game ‘Lagos2199’

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Keys ◽  
Matthew Keys
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Change Scenario ◽  
Scenario Development ◽  
Climate Change Education ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Discrete Change

Story-based futures serve an important role in climate change scenario development. Stories are particularly useful in exploring sea level rise possibilities, since we know many coastal areas are specifically vulnerable to accelerating rises in sea level. This discrete change in coastline is different from most other climate change impacts, and offers a clear basis for scientifically-informed, future scenarios. We demonstrate this with a creative world-building effort set in Lagos, Nigeria, in the year 2199. Further, we employ story-based scenario development, and create a learning-oriented, web-based game that allows users to experience stories in an open-ended, text-based adventure style. This collaborative process blended scientific research, story-telling, and artistic co-creation to iteratively construct the game ‘Lagos2199’. The first use-case of Lagos2199 is documented herein, with corresponding survey results from the student users. This work has three core conclusions. First, the unique reality that sea level rise will literally re-draw maps can be leveraged as an entry-point for world-building and scenario development of the future. Second, such a scenario can be blended with storytelling, art, and music to create a multi-dimensional, immersive exploration of ecological and social change. Third, this kind of game experience can serve an important pedagogical role in climate change education. Providing the next generation of citizens with fluency in both climate change impacts and how society will interact with such impacts, is critical for providing adaptive capacity over the coming decades and centuries of accelerating global change.

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