Adapting to Rising Sea Levels: How Short-Term Responses Complement Long-Term Investment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Guthrie
Keyword(s):  
Short Term ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

Mapping the soft and ethical dimensions of sea level rise in southern Sweden

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Van Well ◽  
Anette Björlin ◽  
Per Danielsson ◽  
Godefroid Godefroid Ndayikengurukiye ◽  
Gunnel Göransson
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Gis Mapping ◽  
Ethical Values ◽  
Southern Sweden ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

<p>Sea level rise poses profound challenges within current municipal and regional governance since it requires unusually long planning horizons, is surrounded by great uncertainties, and gives rise to novel ethical challenges. Adaptation to climate change is fundamentally an ethical issue because the aim of any proposed adaptation measure is to protect that which is valued in society. One of the most salient ethical issues discussed in the adaptation literature relates to the distribution of climate related risks, vulnerabilities and benefits across populations and over time. Raising sea-walls is typically associated with high costs and potentially negative ecological impacts as well as substantial equity concerns; managed retreat or realignment often causes problems related to property rights; and migration out of low-lying areas can involve the loss of sense and cultural identity and impact on receiving communities.</p><p>How can the soft and ethical dimensions of rising mean sea levels be characterized and how can their consequences be mapped? To help municipalities to understand the values and ethics attached to measures to deal with long-term rising sea levels in southern Sweden, we are developing a methodology of soft or ethical values to complement to GIS-mapping of coastal vulnerability based on coastal characteristics and socio-economic factors.</p><p>Rather than determining these values a priori, they are being discerned through workshops with relevant stakeholders and in interviews with citizens residing in and utilizing the coastal areas. The methodology attempts to determine the place-based of values within coastal communities with a focus on “whose” values, “what” values, and the long-term or short-term nature of values. It builds on an analytical framework developed to acquire information on the behavior, knowledge, perception and feelings of people living, working and enjoying the coastal areas.  In turn this stakeholder-based information is used to co-create “story maps” as tools to communicate complicated vulnerability analyses, highlight the ethical dimensions of various adaptation measures, raise awareness and aid decisionmakers in taking uncomfortable decisions to “wicked” planning problems around the negative effects of sea level rise, coastal erosion and urban flooding.</p><p>This paper presents the methodological development of the task as well as the results the study in four Swedish municipalities. The representation of the “soft” and ethical values provides an opportunity to help clarify these values to policymakers and increase resilience to rising sea levels.</p>

scholarly journals FACTORS INFLUENCING ESTUARY SEDIMENT DISTRIBUTION

1976 ◽  
Vol 1 (15) ◽  
pp. 120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary P. Kendrick ◽  
B.V. Derbyshire
Keyword(s):  
River Flow ◽  
Saline Water ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Seasonal Fluctuations ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Sediment Distribution ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Subsequent Period ◽  
Estuary Sediment

Many factors combine to determine the way in which sediments are distributed throughout an estuary. Most fundamental are those which produce the natural rhythm of diurnal (or semi-diurnal), bi-monthly and seasonal fluctuations due to predictable variations in tide and weather. This group includes tidal discharge, fresh river flow and the resultant distribution of saline water. When considered together with such factors as the availability and properties of sediments within and beyond the landward and seaward limits of an estuary, they determine how the available material shall be eroded, transported and deposited during the course of the natural cycle. Superimposed on these regular fluctuations are the effects of other factors which may or may not be predictable, are not necessarily regular in occurrence and may be either natural or man-made. These include secular trends, such as long-term adjustments in land/sea levels or climatic conditions, which have a small but continuing effect on some of the factors in the first group. They also include sudden, short-term events like earthquakes or hurricanes which impose a shock to the system that may involve the movement of large quantities of material during the subsequent period of readjustment.

scholarly journals Salty Urbanism: Toward an Adaptive Coastal Design Framework to Address Rising Seas and Climate Change

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey E. Huber
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Flood Management ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Rising Sea Levels ◽  
Economic Assets

Over the next 100 years, nothing will radically change thecoastal built environment more than climate change and sea level rise. The coastal zone is home to some of our country’s most valuable ecological and socio-economic assets. Many of these locations are being demonstrably transformed dueto large-scale human and biophysical processes. The result is a potential loss of myriad ecosystem services such as storm protection, wildlife habitat, recreation and aesthetics, among others. Policy and design solutions are not truly consideringthe necessary transformation that will be required to live and work within a saturated coastal environment. The old paradigm of flood management and control will need tochange from prevention to acceptance and population will decline as businesses and individuals decide the costs are too high. The need for developing a long-term urban design and planning framework that adapts to these effects is critical. More specifically, there is a need for a “systems” approach that utilizes urban design and takes into consideration infrastructure impacts, future investments, and insurability of risk as long-term objectives to address potential impacts from both coastal flooding and rising sea levels, while at the same time guiding communities’ future land use and investment plans.

scholarly journals Long-Term, Seasonal and Short-Term Fluctuations in the Water Level of the Southern Baltic Sea

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Wolski ◽  
Bernard Wiśniewski
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Tide Gauges ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Extreme Sea Levels ◽  
Solar Tide ◽  
Southern Baltic

Abstract Aim of this work are analyses of oscillations sea levels in the Southern Baltic on a scale of short-term changes, seasonal and long-term (age). The study was based on observational data in different periods time for tide gauges station of the Polish coast. On the example of some storm situations presents the part of the baric wave and the wind in the formation of extreme sea levels. The primary cause of the annual variability of sea levels was the characteristics of the annual and semi-annual oscillations (the annual and semi-annual solar tide). In the work also determined the rate of long-term sea-level rise for the Polish coast.

Contemporary monitoring of storm surge activity

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Ji ◽  
Guosheng Li
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Storm Surge ◽  
Temporal Variability ◽  
Satellite Altimetry ◽  
Storm Surges ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Tide Gauges ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

There is growing interest in storm surge activity related to catastrophic events and their unintended consequences in terms of casualties and damage around the world and in increasing populations and issues along coastal areas in the context of global warming and rising sea levels. Accordingly, knowledge on storm surge monitoring has progressed significantly in recent years, and this review, focused on monitoring the spatial and temporal variability of storm surges, responds to the need for a synthesis. Three main components are presented in the review: (1) monitoring storm surges from the viewpoint of three effective approaches; (2) understanding the challenges faced by the three monitoring approaches to increase our awareness of monitoring storm surges; (3) identifying three research priorities and orientations to provide new ideas in future storm surge monitoring. From the perspective of monitoring approaches, recent progress was achieved with respect to tide gauges, satellite altimetry and numerical simulation. Storm surge events can nowadays be identified accurately, and the surge heights can be calculated based on long-term tide gauge observations. The changing frequency and intensity of storm surge activity, combined with statistical analysis and climatology, can be used to enable a better understanding of the possible regional or global long-term trends. Compared with tidal observation data, satellite altimetry has the advantage of providing offshore sea level information to an accuracy of 10 cm. In addition, satellite altimetry can provide more effective observations for studying storm surges, such as transient surge data of the deep ocean. Simultaneously, the study of storm surges via numerical simulation has been further developed, mainly reflected in the gradual improvement of simulation accuracy but also in the refinement of comprehensive factors affecting storm surge activity. However, from the above approaches, storm surge activity monitoring cannot fully reflect the spatial and temporal variability of storm surges, especially the spatial changes at a regional or global scale. In particular, compared to global storm surge, tide gauges and satellite altimeters are relatively sparse, and the spatial distribution is extremely uneven, which often seriously restricts the overall understanding of the spatial distribution features of storm surge activity. Numerical models can be used as a tool to overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings for storm surge monitoring, as they provide real-time spatiotemporal features of storm surge events. But long-term numerical hindcast of tides and surges requires an extremely high computational effort. Considering the shortcomings of the above approaches and the impact of climate change, there is no clear approach to remedy the framework for studying the spatial and temporal characteristics of global or regional storm surge activity at a climatic scale. Therefore, we show how new insights or techniques are useful for the monitoring of future crises. This work is especially important in planning efforts by policymakers, coastal managers, civil protection managers and the general public to adapt to climate change and rising sea levels.

scholarly journals The transport and fate of marine plastics in South Africa and adjacent oceans

2020 ◽  
Vol 116 (5/6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter G. Ryan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Global Model ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Model Predictions ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

South Africa is thought to be one of the worst contributors of plastic into the sea globally. Although some plastic items derive from offshore sources (mainly fishing and other maritime activities, but also long-distance transport), the importance of local, land-based sources is indicated by the composition of beach debris and the concentration of macro-, meso- and microplastics close to urban source areas. Some 60–90% of plastic from land-based sources is expected to strand on beaches, but plastic standing stocks on beaches are much lower than global model predictions of land-based pollution. Burial in beaches and transport into backshore vegetation are significant sinks, although this plastic is likely to be released as the climate crisis leads to rising sea levels and more extreme storms. Most buried items are fairly small, while many larger items, which account for most of the mass of plastic, are removed from beaches by cleaning efforts. However, even daily accumulation rate estimates – which exclude the effects of cleaning – fall well short of model predictions of plastic leakage from land-based sources. Oceanographic models predict that plastics entering the sea from South Africa are exported to the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, with the proportion depending on source location and item density. At sea, floating macroplastic is concentrated close to urban centres. Farther offshore, plastic items tend to be large and buoyant because biofouling causes small, low buoyancy items to sink. Size-selective removal of plastics by biota might also contribute to the paucity of floating microplastics (smaller than 1 mm). The seabed is likely to be the main long-term sink for waste plastics, but the limited data available indicate low levels of plastics on the seabed off South Africa. Only a small proportion of plastic predicted to leak into the sea from South Africa can be accounted for. However, this should not delay the implementation of effective mitigation measures to limit plastic leakage. Significance: • High densities of waste plastic around urban centres indicate that most macro- and microplastics come from local, land-based sources and do not disperse far at sea. • Beach clean-ups remove up to 90% of the mass of stranded plastic, largely found in macroplastic items (larger than 25 mm). • The seabed is a long-term sink for marine plastics, but densities of plastic on the seabed around South Africa are still modest. • The global model prediction of plastic leakage from South Africa into the sea probably is a gross overestimate.

scholarly journals MONITORING OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS IN WORLDWIDE BEACH NOURISHMENT PRACTICE

2018 ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Franziska Staudt ◽  
Bjoern Deutschmann ◽  
Caroline Ganal ◽  
Rik Gijsman ◽  
H. Christian Hass ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Zone ◽  
Coastal Zone Management ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Coastal Protection ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Zone Management ◽  
Maritime Traffic ◽  
Rising Sea Levels ◽  
The Eu

The growing pressure on the coastal ecosystem, e.g. through fisheries, tourism or maritime traffic demands the careful balancing of activities and developments in the coastal zone. Strategies and planning tools like Integrated Coastal Zone Management (UNEP/MAP/PAP, 2008) or the ecosystem approach (which is planned to be implemented in the EU through the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, European Commission, 2008) aim at a holistic, environmentally friendly and sustainable development of the world’s coastlines. Especially in view of rising sea levels, coastal protection becomes crucial for many densely populated coastlines. For the past few decades beach nourishments have been carried out in many coastal regions as “environmentally friendly” alternative to hard coastal protection structures, such as groins, revetments or breakwaters (Hamm et al, 2002). However, the extraction, transport and deposition of sediment can have (long-term) impacts on the environment, which are often not completely understood. Subsequently, these impacts cannot be fully taken into account in national and local nourishment practice, leading to an insufficient implementation of the ecosystem approach.

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