How Sea Level Rise will Affect Different Cities
It's easy to say that the changes in sea level worldwide due to global warming will affect every city in the same way, but that's not necessarily the case--because different parts of each ice sheet will melt into different parts of the global ocean, every city will be affected differently by sea level rise. That can be an important thing to take into account when planning out cities.
A November 2017 study in the journal Science Advances titled "Should coastal planners have concern over where land ice is melting?" discusses models of how different cities will be affected. There's a lot of good information in there that could potentially aid you in developing policy for coastal planning. The study looks at sea level rise from the two big ice sheets: the Greenland Ice Sheet and the Antarctic Ice Sheet--both contain more than 99% of the world's fresh water.
For a simulation using the models in the study, you can go to this NASA tool: https://vesl.jpl.nasa.gov/sea-level/slr-gfm/. You can select a city and select "Local Relative Sea Level Contribution" under Display and "All" under Basin. To see how sea level rise will affect each city, you can look at "Local Sea Level Change Contributed by Glaciers/Ice Sheets."
You can also find information about relative sea level change in the images in this PDF, the supplemental images for the study. Although they're a bit difficult to decipher at first, the concept behind them is quite simple: the higher up on the -dS/dH (or -dSLR/dH) scale you get, the less sea level rise a city will experience as ice sheets melt (because the scale is in negative units!).
How will port cities in your country be affected by sea level rise from each ice sheet? Feel free to post any questions you have about the study below as well.
A November 2017 study in the journal Science Advances titled "Should coastal planners have concern over where land ice is melting?" discusses models of how different cities will be affected. There's a lot of good information in there that could potentially aid you in developing policy for coastal planning. The study looks at sea level rise from the two big ice sheets: the Greenland Ice Sheet and the Antarctic Ice Sheet--both contain more than 99% of the world's fresh water.
For a simulation using the models in the study, you can go to this NASA tool: https://vesl.jpl.nasa.gov/sea-level/slr-gfm/. You can select a city and select "Local Relative Sea Level Contribution" under Display and "All" under Basin. To see how sea level rise will affect each city, you can look at "Local Sea Level Change Contributed by Glaciers/Ice Sheets."
 |
| dS/dH refers to the change in sea level at each of these cities due to changes in the ice sheet--a smaller value (lower down on the scale) means that the city will experience a greater sea level rise |
 |
| The scale we're looking at! |
You can also find information about relative sea level change in the images in this PDF, the supplemental images for the study. Although they're a bit difficult to decipher at first, the concept behind them is quite simple: the higher up on the -dS/dH (or -dSLR/dH) scale you get, the less sea level rise a city will experience as ice sheets melt (because the scale is in negative units!).
How will port cities in your country be affected by sea level rise from each ice sheet? Feel free to post any questions you have about the study below as well.
This would definitely be crucial and urgent to cities or countries lined along the coastline. I wonder whether the UN or other various organizations had/are planning to have any immediate actions and implementations to this long-term problem.
ReplyDeleteKuwait falls in the blue section on the -dS/dH scale for both ice sheets, indicating that as ice sheets melt it will not experience a high amount of sea level rise. However, being a country along the coastline of the Persian Gulf, any amount of sea level rise is still a concern. According to the NASA simulation, Local Sea Level Change Contributed by Glaciers/Ice Sheets make up 45.2% of its total sea level change which is significant. Further melting of either ice sheet could threaten Kuwait's salt water marshes, groundwater quality, as well as Kuwaiti coastal islands. Therefore, the Delegation of Kuwait holds sea level rise prevention at great importance.
ReplyDeleteAs China is one of the largest nations in the world in terms of land mass and a large portion of our cities fall on the coast, the rising of sea levels poses a major risk to many of our vital industries. Our State Oceanic Administration reported that as of 2016, coastal sea levels had risen by 38 mm, sparking flood prevention measures to begin to be taken. For Shanghai, the local sea level change attributed to glaciers and ice sheets comes to 1.52 mm per year. Other areas of China, such as Qingdao, face a 1.478 mm sea rise per year due to glacial and ice sheet melting. Shanghai and Qingdao both fall in the purple section on the -dS/dH scale for the two ice sheets, demonstrating that the rate of sea level rise will not severely affect the two cities. Despite this, China is taking several measures to mitigate climate change in hopes of slowing sea level rise. To do this, new initiatives such as "ecological civilization" have been employed, which directs investment into infrastructural projects towards developing green technology. The economy is also being targeted as a solution, as we are utilizing our fiscal and credit policies to pressure corporations into adapting systems that are energy efficient.
ReplyDeleteThe Delegation of Netherlands has found, through the NASA simulation, that the Netherlands will experience a glacier melt rise of 65.41mm and a total sea level rise of 213.4mm in the next century. Based on reports in Oslo and London, the two closest cities to the Netherlands in the 2017 Science Advances paper, the Netherlands are between 0 and -2 on the -dS/dH scale. The Delegation of the Netherlands sees these tools as methods of predicting the increasing possibility of floods and sea-level rise in the future. While the flood risk based on melting glaciers seems moderate in the Netherlands, compared to areas such as the USA’s Florida, the overall sea level rise is still high. Especially in other nations, glacier melt may the driving factor behind floods.
ReplyDeleteThe Netherlands have recognized the dangers of rising sea levels for centuries. As around 70% of the land in the Netherlands is at or below sea level, rising sea levels from any source endanger the majority of the Dutch population and their resources. The -dS/dH scale and other methods of measuring sea level rise from glaciers are important to recognize as further proof of the dangers of climate change; the Netherlands will continue to spearhead efforts towards flood prevention and response as well as climate change mitigation.
As the most populous East African country and one that borders the Indian Ocean coastline for nearly 1,500 kilometers, the Republic of Tanzania is one country that will suffer most palpably from any rise in sea level, whether it be insignificantly minor or catastrophically immense.
ReplyDeleteOne of the primary concerns for Tanzania is the economic repercussions that will and have resulted from the incessant sea level rise. Dar de Salaam, Tanzania's largest city, is the de facto and commercial capital of the country, with a vital ecotourism industry that is dependent on the preservation and welfare of its coastal communities. Furthermore, 68% of Tanzanians work in agriculture, a sector that is directly connected to any changes to water conditions. Sea level rises can results in disastrous changes such as increased soil salinity, which in Bangladesh, has lead to a rice yield decrease of 15.6% and and by 2050, is predicted to experience shortages in clean water sources. If the agriculture sector in Tanzania is negatively affected, not only will this increasingly populous country face problematic unemployment issues and subsequent economic repercussions, but the welfare of the millions of Tanzanians who live along the coast or rely on local food sources will be at risk.
The Republic of Tanzania recognizes that climate change and the consequent rise of global sea levels is not a problem that can be mitigated by a simple solution nor by any one entity. It is a situation that requires collaboration, innovation, and resiliency. Countries like the Netherlands and America have already begun collaborating on developing more innovative urban designs. Developing countries like ourselves are not as politically capable nor as financially prosperous to be able to ascertain the environmental stability we all desire. But together, the countries of the world must come together, through an international summit, to share our ideas and our hope. Although we will inevitably encounter failure and tribulation in our endeavors, it is crucial to the benefit of humanity that we maintain our resiliency and do not lose hope.