Climate Changer

  On of the most significant potential impacts of climate change is ocean level rise that may cause inundation of coastal areas and islands erosion. As global temperatures increase, ocean level rise already underway is expected to accelerate due to a thermal expansion of upper layers of the ocean and melting of glaciers. If ocean level rise accelerates as climate change scenarios project, the losses of property will be even greater than anticipated. Extensive losses of coastal wetlands and beaches seem likely. In past eras of ocean level rise wetlands and beaches could retreat naturally inland but roads and coastal structures have closed off this option of natural retreat in much of the US coastline. The result is that the total area of beaches and wetlands may diminish greatly in the US over this century. Some developing countries are especially vulnerable to ocean level rise due to their low- lying nature and limited financial resources to respond. Among the most vulnerable are countries with large populations in deltaic coastal regions such as Bangladesh, Viet Nam, China and Egypt.

Continue reading The Ocean Level

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