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Vulnerability and impacts related to the rising sea level347sediment deficiency, Ferreira et al. (2008). In thiscase, which is similar to the study area, thisdeficiency plays a larger role in erosion than theaccelerated sea-level rise and coastal morphologyand size will be mainly dependent on the directresult of human actions.In Olinda, the flood problems are ahistorical inconvenience for the population. Floodsare annual events in some of the mainneighborhoods of the city, and are among the mostdistinguished environmental impacts, causing lossand disarray to the population. Some areas in thislocation are flooded from time to time, whichdamages road structures, makes the circulation ofvehicles and people impractical, jeopardizescommerce and causes public health issues (Melo2003). Anthropic causes are added to the geographicfeatures and contribute to the intensification of theproblem, such as the illegitimate occupation offreshwater swamp forests, illegal landfills inmangroves, criminal disposal of solid waste and thenonexistence of an efficient draining network.The city, due to its historical erosion andflood problems, has a large range of coastal defensestructures in place, which may provide efficientprotection from the sea level rise (Neves & Muehe1995). Presently, these structures, in addition tocountless sections with hydraulic landfills, put thecoastal streets in flood zones above sea level,reducing the area vulnerable to flood effects. InPaulista we can highlight the potential flooding of anarea relevant from an ecological and economicalpoint of view, the Maria Farinha Headland. On thissite there is a complex estuarine system of elevatedscenic attributes that have contributed to recentdevelopment of the tourism industry with theinstallation of marinas, hotels, inns and water park.Generally, and in what is referred to asvulnerability assessment, the studies developed byFINEP/UFPE (2008), considering only the currenterosion rate and the rate at which constructionpresses closer to the beach, indicate that the width ofthe beach tends to decrease with the passage of time.This analysis demonstrates that in most of thecoastline analyzed, a significant part of thevulnerability may be related to the acceleratedoccupation of areas immediately inland. With thepredicted sea level rise, a higher demand forshoreline protection structures is expectedthroughout the metropolitan coast of Recife.Regarding the methodology adopted, the useof GIS is justified by the fact that the spatialcomponent of climate risk is critical for buildingknowledge on climate risk, potential managementoptions and challenges in local level. A range ofmethods is available for exploring climate riskacross a landscape, however, as with any scientificassessment process, the appropriate methodologydepends on the needs of stakeholders as well aspotential constraints placed upon a project such asfunding, time, data access and expertise (Preston etal. 2009).Based on worldwide experience in policycreation, on data and recommendations of the MAI-PE Project (FINEP/UFPE 2008), and on the resultsgiven in this paper, the implementation of publicpolicies for the protection of coastal and flood zonesare suggested in two fronts: (I) expansion andconsolidation of scientific knowledge of thephenomenon, since the effects of the change in therelative sea level will differ according to localcharacteristics; and (II) management and establishmentof adaptive measures to minimize its impact.These fronts complement the suggestion of Jallow etal. (1996), which present the following means todeal with the problem of coastal vulnerability to thesea level rise: urban growth planning, publicawareness, wetland preservation and mitigation, andcoastal zone management.ConclusionThe Metropolitan Center of Recife, due toits physical characteristics and its current erosionand flood problems, presents itself as a region highlyvulnerable to an increase in sea level. Additionally,it has unfavorable social charac-teristics forresponses to flooding, including high demographicdensity and intensified vertical growth on the coast,as well as occupation of riverside are-as. The impactassociated with the relative sea level rise mayintensify if relief measures are not taken.These results comprise first an approach tothe impacts caused by the combined projectedchanges in coastal areas in the Metropolitan Centerof Recife. Since the response prediction and scenarioanticipation for these areas are highly complex tasks,it is essential to obtain more funding from researchfoundations, institutions responsible fordevelopment of human resources and from those incharge of public policies in order to perform furtherresearch on the matter. The bigger the knowledgebase and the better the prediction of the impactsresulting from climatic change, the better the plansfor economic, social and environmental riskprevention will be.AcknowledgmentsThe authors wish to thank the agencyFinanciadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP/MCT)and the Recife, Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Olinda andPan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences (2010), 5(2): 341-349