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Climate - Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change

Coastal zones and marine ecosystems

One major consequence of global warming is a rise in the mean sea level by the thermal expansion of the upper layers of ocean.  A rise of 0.5 cm per year is expected to place a great stress on coastal ecosystems. Shoreline erosion and accretion will vary and sandy beaches in the Caribbean region will be more severely affected than rocky coasts.  Tide gauge data show that the sea level rose between 10 –20cm in the 20th century.  Sea level is projected to rise from 9cm to 88cm by 2100.

Most of the coastal areas within the Caribbean are particularly vulnerable to inundation by rising tides and the ability to adapt is becoming increasingly important. The Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change (CPACC) project places special emphasis on monitoring sea level rise and coral reefs as well as management of coastal and marine areas. They list the impacts on coastal zone as follows: 

• submergence and inundation of beaches and coastal lands
• salt water intrusion into fresh water aquifers, estuaries and mangroves
• submergence, silting and loss of sea-grass beds
• coral reef degradation and loss due to bleaching as well as physical damaged caused by storms
• destruction to human settlements and infrastructure along the coast from intensified storm surge and coastal flooding.

With the help of other regional institutions they have set up a sea level monitoring network in the Caribbean. Learn more from the web site of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC)!

News:

• Alarm over acidifying oceans, NewScientist, 25 Sep 03

• Coral bleaching caused by "malaria of the oceans", NewScientist, 11 Apr 03

Learn more:

• Coastal zones and marine ecosystems in Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability Report of the IPCC.

• Status of the coral reefs of the World - 2002:

  • The U.S. Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico: Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Navassa. (pdf, 1.3 MB)

  • The Northern Caribbean and Atlantic Node of the GCRMN. (pdf, 1.7 MB)

  • Mesoamerica - Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. (pdf, 1.5 MB)

  • The Eastern Caribbean: The OECS, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and the Netherlands Antilles. (pdf, 1.6 MB)

  • Southern Tropical America: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama and Venezuela. (pdf, 1.2 MB)

• Small Island States chapter of the Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability Report of the IPCC.

• Caribbean Marine Research Centre

• Caribbean Environmental Programme: Marine Issues

• Sustaining Caribbean Coastal Areas - Population, Health, and Coastal Resource Management, Roger-Mark De Souza

• SIDSnet Climate Change News

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