Global Projection of Coastal population exposure with sea-level rise beyond tipping points

 

Master(2016)  Ryunosuke Tawatari


(→日本語)

It is said that Global mean sea level continues rising due to global warming.

At the end of this century, it is projected sea-level would rise by 30-80cm. Once temperature passes certain tipping point (a kind of threshold), Greenland ice sheet or Antarctic ice sheet (large stable ice on the continent) would begin disintegrate abruptly. Eventually they would yield several meters of global mean sea- level rise.

Left hand side figure shows houses along estuarine basin of the Mekong river. We can find concentrated habitation above water surface by approximately 1m.

There would be increasing risk of sea-level rise results from urbanization or ground subsidence by excessive use of groundwater. Especially, south-eastern countries and small islands would suffer from large economic burden or they would not make sufficient adaptation like dikes.

This study estimate height of sea-level rise in the future using 4 CO2 emission scenarios with/without sufficient effect for mitigation. How many people in each country would be inundated by the estimated sea-level rise is also estimated.

 

We could trigger a change which our descendant will live in much severer environment if we continue our present lifestyle. So "which adaptation/mitigation policy our generation have to take" is one of the objective of this study.