24.08.2013 Views

Climate Change and the European Water Dimension - Agri ...

Climate Change and the European Water Dimension - Agri ...

Climate Change and the European Water Dimension - Agri ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

<strong>Climate</strong> <strong>Change</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

<strong>European</strong> <strong>Water</strong> <strong>Dimension</strong><br />

Chapter IV.C. Impact of <strong>Climate</strong> <strong>Change</strong> on<br />

Coastal Systems<br />

Key Points<br />

• Global warming is responsible for a rise in sea level of 1-2<br />

mm/yr with a subsequent increase in coastal erosion,<br />

flooding, salinization of estuaries <strong>and</strong> l<strong>and</strong> aquifers.<br />

• An intensification of <strong>the</strong> hydrological cycle has impacts on<br />

<strong>the</strong> water <strong>and</strong> salinity budget of coastal systems, coastal<br />

shape <strong>and</strong> productivity (eutrophication) leading to loss of<br />

habitats.<br />

• Global sea surface temperature has warmed by a mean of<br />

0.6°C resulting in a re-distribution <strong>and</strong> loss of marine<br />

organisms, higher frequency of anomalous <strong>and</strong> toxic bloom<br />

events, <strong>and</strong> enhancement of hypoxia at depth<br />

• The response of coastal systems to climate forces varies<br />

regionally <strong>and</strong> is tightly coupled to human activities on l<strong>and</strong><br />

emphasizing <strong>the</strong> importance of downscaling models <strong>and</strong><br />

statistics for proper assessment.<br />

• All forces act simultaneously <strong>and</strong> at different time scales in<br />

<strong>the</strong> coastal area, requiring long-term <strong>and</strong> synoptic data<br />

records to extract signals of natural variability from climate<br />

change trends.<br />

81

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!