scholarly journals Sea Level Rise and Coastal Impacts: Innovation and Improvement of the Local Urban Plan for a Climate-Proof Adaptation Strategy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1565
Author(s):  
Carmela Mariano ◽  
Marsia Marino ◽  
Giovanna Pisacane ◽  
Gianmaria Sannino
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Evaluation Phase ◽  
Risk Maps

In recent years, the territorial impacts connected to sea level rise have prompted a reflection on the responsibilities of policy makers in transposing these issues into urban agendas. The need also emerged to both broaden and update the skills of urban planners and to improve territorial governance tools, with the aim of developing feasible regeneration and resilience strategies to face climate change. In this paper, a methodology for the production of Flood Risk Maps is presented, as applied to the Municipality of Ravenna, Italy, by only considering the static component of inundation hazard, i.e., the projected Mean Sea Level Rise, as a first step towards increased preparedness. The resulting Flood Risk Maps represent, in fact, an innovation with respect to the current cognitive framework that supports local urban planning, by providing information on a potential risk that has so far been overlooked. The method combines sea level rise projections under the pessimistic RCP8.5 scenario with georeferenced territorial data, aiming to identify the physical consistency of the urban-structure components which are potentially at risk. For successive time horizons (2030, 2050 and 2100), our results show the progressive impairment and potential degradation of extensive urban areas that are disregarded in the urban planning regulations currently in force. This preliminary evaluation phase is aimed at prompting and supporting the necessary updating of the planning tools and regulations adopted by the public bodies responsible for territorial governance, by identifying priority areas for intervention, and helping define mitigation and adaptation actions.

scholarly journals Climate Change Preparedness: Comparing Future Urban Growth and Flood Risk in Amsterdam and Houston

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youjung Kim ◽  
Galen Newman
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Urban Growth ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Transformation Model

Rising sea levels and coastal population growth will increase flood risk of more people and assets if land use changes are not planned adequately. This research examines the efficacy of flood protection systems and land use planning by comparing Amsterdam in the Netherlands (renown for resilience planning methods), with the city of Houston, Texas in the US (seeking ways of increasing resilience due to extreme recent flooding). It assesses flood risk of future urban growth in lieu of sea level rise using the Land Transformation Model, a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based Artificial Neural Network (ANN) land use prediction tool. Findings show that Houston has currently developed much more urban area within high-risk flood-prone zones compared to Amsterdam. When comparing predicted urban areas under risk, flood-prone future urban areas in Amsterdam are also relatively smaller than Houston. Finally, the increased floodplain when accounting for sea level rise will impact existing and future urban areas in Houston, but do not increase risk significantly in Amsterdam. The results suggest that the protective infrastructure used in the Netherlands has protected its future urban growth from sea level rise more adequately than has Houston.

Assessing flood risk and detecting changes of salt water inflow in a coastal micro-tidal brackish marsh using GIS

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacek Urbański ◽  
Agata Ślimak
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Brackish Marsh ◽  
Distance Functions ◽  
Water Inflow ◽  
Small Range ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Baltic Coast

Assessing flood risk and detecting changes of salt water inflow in a coastal micro-tidal brackish marsh using GISIn order to assess changes in salt water inflow and potential flood risks due to sea level rise in a micro-tidal Beka brackish marsh on the Polish Baltic Coast GIS was used. Such wetlands are important elements of coastal zone natural environments. Creating a geodatabase within a GIS system makes it possible to carry out broad analyses of complex systems, such as coastal wetlands. The results indicate that a 40 cm sea-level rise would considerably increase the frequency of flooding in the investigated area, in part because of the small range of the annual sea level oscillations there. A map of the index of changes in saltwater inflow, created with the help of cost-weighted distance (functions), shows that changes which have occurred along the shore, consisting of filling in the drainage channel outlets, have likely had a significant impact on the vegetation of the area.

scholarly journals Global LiDAR land elevation data reveal greatest sea-level rise vulnerability in the tropics

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Hooijer ◽  
R. Vernimmen
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Land Area ◽  
Area At Risk ◽  
Population Number ◽  
Coastal Flood ◽  
Elevation Data ◽  
Coastal Flood Risk ◽  
The Tropics

AbstractCoastal flood risk assessments require accurate land elevation data. Those to date existed only for limited parts of the world, which has resulted in high uncertainty in projections of land area at risk of sea-level rise (SLR). Here we have applied the first global elevation model derived from satellite LiDAR data. We find that of the worldwide land area less than 2 m above mean sea level, that is most vulnerable to SLR, 649,000 km2 or 62% is in the tropics. Even assuming a low-end relative SLR of 1 m by 2100 and a stable lowland population number and distribution, the 2020 population of 267 million on such land would increase to at least 410 million of which 72% in the tropics and 59% in tropical Asia alone. We conclude that the burden of current coastal flood risk and future SLR falls disproportionally on tropical regions, especially in Asia.

scholarly journals Assessing storm surge hazard and impact of sea level rise in the Lesser Antilles case study of Martinique

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 1559-1571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yann Krien ◽  
Bernard Dudon ◽  
Jean Roger ◽  
Gael Arnaud ◽  
Narcisse Zahibo
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Storm Surge ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Lesser Antilles ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In the Lesser Antilles, coastal inundations from hurricane-induced storm surges pose a great threat to lives, properties and ecosystems. Assessing current and future storm surge hazards with sufficient spatial resolution is of primary interest to help coastal planners and decision makers develop mitigation and adaptation measures. Here, we use wave–current numerical models and statistical methods to investigate worst case scenarios and 100-year surge levels for the case study of Martinique under present climate or considering a potential sea level rise. Results confirm that the wave setup plays a major role in the Lesser Antilles, where the narrow island shelf impedes the piling-up of large amounts of wind-driven water on the shoreline during extreme events. The radiation stress gradients thus contribute significantly to the total surge – up to 100 % in some cases. The nonlinear interactions of sea level rise (SLR) with bathymetry and topography are generally found to be relatively small in Martinique but can reach several tens of centimeters in low-lying areas where the inundation extent is strongly enhanced compared to present conditions. These findings further emphasize the importance of waves for developing operational storm surge warning systems in the Lesser Antilles and encourage caution when using static methods to assess the impact of sea level rise on storm surge hazard.

scholarly journals Adapting to sea level rise: Emerging governance issues in the San Francisco Bay Region

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro J. Pinto ◽  
G. Mathias Kondolf ◽  
Pun Lok Raymond Wong
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Path Dependence ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
San Francisco Bay ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Environmental Benefit ◽  
Formidable Challenge

San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of North America, is heavily encroached by a metropolitan region with over 7 million inhabitants. Urban development and infrastructure, much of which built over landfill and at the cost of former baylands, were placed at very low elevations. Sea-level rise (SLR) poses a formidable challenge to these highly exposed urban areas and already stressed natural systems. “Green”, or ecosystem-based, adaptation is already on the way around the Bay. Large scale wetland restoration projects have already been concluded, and further action now often requires articulation with the reinforcement of flood defense structures, given the level of urban encroachment. While levee setback, or removal, would provide greater environmental benefit, the need to protect urban areas and infrastructure has led to the trial of ingenious solutions for promoting wetland resilience while upgrading the level of protection granted by levees.We analyzed the Bay’s environmental governance and planning structure, through direct observation, interviews with stakeholders, and study of planning documents and projects. We present two cases where actual implementation of SLR adaptation has led, or may lead to, the need to revise standards & practices or to make uneasy choices between conflicting public interests.Among the region’s stakeholders, there is an increasing awareness of the risks related to SLR, but the institutional arrangements are complex, and communication between the different public agencies/departments is not always as streamlined as it could be. Some agencies and departments need to adapt their procedures in order to remove institutional barriers to adaptation, but path dependence is an obstacle. There is evidence that more frank and regular communication between public actors is needed. It also emphasizes the benefits of a coordination of efforts and strategies, something that was eroded in the transition from government-led policies to a new paradigm of local-based adaptive governance.

scholarly journals Impact Assessment and Management Challenges of Key Rural Human Health Infrastructure Under Sea Level Rise

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Mitchell ◽  
Robert E. Isdell ◽  
Julie Herman ◽  
Christine Tombleson
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Critical Infrastructure ◽  
Septic Systems ◽  
Health Infrastructure ◽  
Wide Scale ◽  
Economic Assets

Accelerating sea level rise in Virginia, United States, will significantly increase the flooding threat to low-lying roads, residences, and critical infrastructure as well as raise the water table, allowing saltwater intrusion into well water and threatening the function of septic fields. Although most of the adaptation work in Virginia has focused on urban economic centers, the majority of the coastline is rural and faces different threats and opportunities to address them compared to urban areas due to their reduced economic assets and their reliance on private infrastructure. In this case study, we assess the potential for geospatially quantifying impact to septic systems and adjacent water ways due to sea level rise. The case study found that the data necessary to reliably quantify these impacts on a state-wide scale are lacking and collection of that information needs to be prioritized given the potential for extensive sea level impacts.

scholarly journals Assessing storm surge hazard and impact of sea level rise in Lesser Antilles-Case study of Martinique

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yann Krien ◽  
Bernard Dudon ◽  
Jean Roger ◽  
Gaël Arnaud ◽  
Narcisse Zahibo
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Storm Surge ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Lesser Antilles ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In the Lesser Antilles, coastal inundations from hurricane-induced storm surges cause great threats to lives, properties, and ecosystems. Assessing current and future storm surge hazard with sufficient spatial resolution is of primary interest to help coastal planners and decision makers develop mitigation and adaptation measures. Here, we use wave-current numerical models and statistical methods to investigate worst case scenarios and 100-year surge levels for the case study of Martinique, under present climate or considering a potential sea-level rise. Results confirm that the wave setup plays a major role in Lesser Antilles, where the narrow island shelf impedes the piling-up of large amounts of wind-driven water on the shoreline during extreme events. The radiation stress gradients thus contribute significantly to the total surge, up to 100 % in some cases. The non-linear interactions of sea level rise with bathymetry and topography are generally found to be relatively small in Martinique, but can reach several tens of centimeters in low-lying areas where the inundation extent is strongly enhanced compared to present conditions. These findings further emphasize the importance of waves for developing operational storm surge warning systems in the Lesser Antilles, and encourage caution when using static methods to assess the impact of sea level rise on storm surge hazard.

TOWARDS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTINUOUS COASTAL VULNERABILITY INDEX IN MALAYSIA: A REVIEW

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gill J. Ainee ◽  
A.M. Anwar ◽  
S. Omar K
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Vulnerability Index ◽  
Coastal Vulnerability ◽  
Pilot Projects ◽  
The West ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Coastal Vulnerability Index ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Implementation Approach

Climate change has brought about many threats to the ecosystem by inducing natural hazards, particularly sea level rise. Coastal areas then are subjected to many adverse effects of sea level rise, hence posing a risk to the safety of the coastal population, resources and assets. As part of the mitigation and adaptation measures against these effects, the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) was implemented by many coastal regions. The CVI is an index-based tool to map the risks related to coastal changes. In Malaysia, the practice of CVI is still in its initial stages. Whereby, the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) Malaysia had earlier carried out two pilot projects on CVI. The first is located at Tanjung Piai and the second at the west coast of Pulau Langkawi. This paper reviews the definition and concept of CVI. An alternative implementation approach of CVI in Malaysia is also discussed.

Interactions of extreme river flows and sea levels for coastal flooding

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Robins ◽  
Lisa Harrison ◽  
Mariam Elnahrawi ◽  
Matt Lewis ◽  
Tom Coulthard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Coastal Flooding ◽  
Relative Timing ◽  
The West ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Flooding Hazards ◽  
Fluvial Response

<p>Coastal flooding worldwide causes the vast majority of natural disasters; for the UK costing £2.2 billion/year. Fluvial and surge-tide extremes can occur synchronously resulting in combination flooding hazards in estuaries, intensifying the flood risk beyond fluvial-only or surge-only events. Worse, this flood risk has the potential to increase further in the future as the frequency and/or intensity of these drivers change, combined with projected sea-level rise. Yet, the sensitivity of contrasting estuaries to combination and compound flooding hazards at sub-daily scales – now and in the future – is unclear. Here, we investigate the dependence between fluvial and surge interactions at sub-daily scales for contrasting catchment and estuary types (Humber vs. Dyfi, UK), using 50+ years of data: 15-min fluvial flows and hourly sea levels. Additionally, we simulate intra-estuary (<50 m resolution) sensitivities to combination flooding hazards based on: (1) realistic extreme events (worst-on-record); (2) realistic events with shifted timings of the drivers to maximise flooding; and (3) modified drivers representing projected climate change.</p><p>For well-documented flooding events, we show significant correlation between skew surge and peak fluvial flow, for the Dyfi (small catchment and estuary with a fast fluvial response on the west coast of Britain), with a higher dependence during autumn/winter months. In contrast, we show no dependence for the Humber (large catchment and estuary with a slow fluvial response on the east coast of Britain). Cross-correlation results, however, did show correlation with a time lag (~10 hours). For the Dyfi, flood extent was sensitive to the relative timing of the fluvial and surge-tide drivers. In contrast, the relative timing of these drivers did not affect flooding in the Humber. However, extreme fluvial flows in the Humber actually reduced water levels in the outer estuary, compared with a surge-only event. Projected future changes in these drivers by 2100 are likely to increase combination flooding hazards: sea-level rise scenarios predicted substantial and widespread flooding in both estuaries. However, similar increases in storm surge resulted in a greater seawater influx, altering the character of the flooding. Projected changes in fluvial volumes were the weakest driver of estuarine flooding. On the west coast of Britain containing many small/steep catchments, combination flooding hazards from fluvial and surges extremes occurring together is likely. Moreover, high-resolution data and hydrodynamic modelling are necessary to resolve the impact and inform flood mitigation methodology.</p>

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