Coastal Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerabilities - Climate ...

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Physical Climate Forces 21Figure 2-5 The topography of the ocean. Average sea level in the Gulf Stream is unusually highbecause the warmer waters are less dense. The Gulf Stream also draws water away from the AtlanticCoast, making local sea level unusually low. Future changes in ocean currents are likely to affectregional changes in sea level. Source: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization(http://www.cmar.csiro.au/sealevel), using data from Pavlis et al., 2008.Current trends in precipitation affect the coastal environment with too little or toomuch precipitation, affecting marsh and wetland vegetation, river runoff, and infrastructure.Global average annual precipitation was about 5 percent above normal withhigh regional variability. Overall, ocean salinity has stayed similar to 2004 conditionswith anomalous regions continuing to be saltier and fresher regions continuing to beanomalously fresh. Rising sea levels contribute to increased salinities within the coastalzone and induce wetland transitions. Recent progress has been made in the tools thatassess and model climate impacts to the coastal zone and systematically capture criticalspatial and temporal measurements of high resolution data sets for monitoring changes(Bluden et al., 2011).
22 Coastal Impacts, Adaptation, and VulnerabilitiesFigure 2-6 The highly variable spatial distribution of the rates of sea-level change, plotted about theglobally averaged rate of rise for the period 1992 to 2011, as measured from satellite altimeter data.Source: NOAA Laboratory for Satellite Altimetry.The Basis for ConcernRising global temperatures are likely to accelerate the rate of sea-level rise for threereasons:1. Ocean water expands when heated;2. A warmer climate causes glaciers and the polar ice sheets in Greenland and Antarcticato melt more rapidly; and3. The ocean warming and ice sheet melting can accelerate the speed at which iceshelves disintegrate and outlet glaciers flow from Greenland and Antarctica tothe oceans.The current rate of global carbon emissions has increased by half in the last 20 yearsand, at these rates, continually reduces any chance of holding global temperature rise toless than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Global carbon emissions are likelyto continue to increase at a rate of about 3 percent per year (Peters et al., 2011). Futureconcern regarding coastal climate is based on the effects of increased atmospheric andocean temperature and changes in flooding frequencies from precipitation, hurricanes,and storms. An increase in extreme flood events can be detrimental to coastal wetlands
Page 1: National Climate Assessment Regiona
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Page 11 and 12: Chapter 3Lead Author: Carlton H. He
Page 16 and 17: ContentsKey TermsAcronymsCommunicat
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Chapter 5Adaptation and MitigationK
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ReferencesAbuodha, P. & Woodroffe,
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Coastal Impacts, Adaptation, and Vu
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