Author(s): T. Jayasankar; Anju Joy; T. I. Eldho
Linked Author(s): Eldho T.I.
Keywords: Sea level rise; Coastal flooding; Inundation; CMIP5
Abstract: Coastal and estuarine regions are vital for a country due to the urban settlement, shipping, industries, agriculture, fisheries and tourism. Coastal and estuarine regions are considered to be the most vulnerable regions in the context of global warming and climate change. Two direct impacts of climate change and related sea level rise are: flooding in coastal areas and consequent increase of salt water intrusion into rivers. In this paper, the sea level rise and food risk assessment of a low lying area–Cochin estuary is presented. Cochin estuary situated on the Southern west coast of India is significant due to the urban settlement, shipping, agriculture, industries and tourism. This estuary is80 km long extending from Munambam (North most) to Vembanad Lake (South Most), has two openings to sea and home to six rivers. The south of estuary is known as Vembanadlake which is surrounded by low-lying paddy fields (Kuttanad region). In this area, extreme river discharges and sea level rise are causes for concern. Hydrodynamic models are generally resorted to study the climate change impacts on the area for different scenarios. However, due to rise in sea level, the coastal boundaries as well as estuarine boundaries could change with time. Hence it is essential to study the inundation levels due to sea level rise prior to set up models so that model domains can be chosen properly. Here the sea levels projected by few general circulation models (GCMs) are studied and inundation levels are worked out based on SRTM digital elevation model.
Year: 2016