The text points and slideshow in this article are based on the study and an email interview with Deborah Balk.
Some 634 million people—one tenth of the global population—live in coastal areas like those in China that lie within just 10 metres above sea level, where they are most vulnerable to sea level rise and severe storms associated with climate change.
About 75 percent of the people in low-elevation coastal zones are in Asian nations like India with densely populated river deltas, while 16 nations with the greatest proportion of their populations in the zone are small island nations.
Urban development in the coastal zones like that in the Nile River Delta in Egypt is increasing the number of people at great risk, both by exposing them to seaward hazards and by degrading ecosystems that protect coastlines, such as flood plains and mangrove swamps.
China’s economic development policies in particular have driven one of the largest coastward migrations ever. China has by far the largest population living in the coastal zone at greatest risk from floods and cyclones at 144 million (compared to India?s 63 million and the United States? 23 million).
The study highlights the great risk to countries like Bangladesh, where a large, mostly poor population inhabits an extensive low-lying coastal area.
Indonesia is an example of an archipelago nation most vulnerable to climate change effects but also least able to afford the steps necessary to mitigate those effects, such as migration policies to move people inland away from the danger zone and protecting coastal populations with sea defenses and environmental engineering.
The world’s poorest countries, like Vietnam, have contributed least to the problem of global warming but are the most vulnerable to its effects, creating a moral obligation that rich nations help poorer ones adapt to the changes ahead.
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
