IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007
Climate Change 2007: Working Group II: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

10.4.3 Coastal and low lying areas

10.4.3.1 Coastal erosion and inundation of coastal lowland

Average global sea-level rise over the second half of the 20th century was 1.8 ± 0.3 mm/yr, and sea-level rise of the order of 2 to 3 mm/yr is considered likely during the early 21st century as a consequence of global warming (Woodroffe et al., 2006). However, the sea-level rise in Asia is geographically variable and an additional half a metre of sea-level rise is projected for the Arctic during this century (ACIA, 2005). The rising rates of sea level vary considerably from 1.5 to 4.4 mm/yr along the East Asia coast, due to regional variation in land surface movement (Mimura and Yokoki, 2004). The projected rise of mean high-water level could be greater than that of mean sea level (Chen, 1991; Zhang and Du, 2000). The projected relative sea-level rise (RSLR), including that due to thermal expansion, tectonic movement, ground subsidence and the trend of rising river water level, is 40 to 60 cm, 50 to 70 cm and 70 to 90 cm in the Zhujiang, Changjiang and Huanghe Deltas, respectively by the year 2050 (Li et al., 2004a, b). Choi et al. (2002) has reported that the regional sea-level rise over the north-western Pacific Ocean would be much more significant compared with the global average mainly due to exceptionally large warming near the entrance of the Kuroshio extension. The slope of the land and land surface movement would also affect the relative sea-level rise in the Asian Arctic (ACIA, 2005).

In Asia, erosion is the main process that will occur to land as sea level continues to rise. As a consequence, coast-protection structures built by humans will usually be destroyed by the sea while the shoreline retreats. In some coastal areas of Asia, a 30 cm rise in sea level can result in 45 m of landward erosion. Climate change and sea-level rise will tend to worsen the currently eroding coasts (Huang and Xie, 2000). In Boreal Asia, coastal erosion will be enhanced as rising sea level and declining sea ice allow higher wave and storm surge to hit the shore (ACIA, 2005). The coastal recession can add up to 500 to 600 m in 100 years, with a rate of between 4 to 6 m/yr. The coastal recession by thermal abrasion is expected to accelerate by 1.4 to 1.5 times in the second half of the 21st century as compared to the current rate (Leont’yev, 2004). In monsoonal Asia, decreasing sediment flux is generally a main cause of coastal erosion. Available evidence suggests a tendency of river sediment to further decline that will tend to worsen coastal erosion in Asia (Liu et al., 2001).

Projected sea-level rise could flood the residence of millions of people living in the low lying areas of South, South-East and East Asia such as in Vietnam, Bangladesh, India and China (Wassmann et al., 2004; Stern, 2007). Even under the most conservative scenario, sea level will be about 40 cm higher than today by the end of 21st century and this is projected to increase the annual number of people flooded in coastal populations from 13 million to 94 million. Almost 60% of this increase will occur in South Asia (along coasts from Pakistan, through India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to Burma), while about 20% will occur in South-East Asia, specifically from Thailand to Vietnam including Indonesia and the Philippines (Wassmann et al., 2004). The potential impacts of one metre sea-level rise include inundation of 5,763 km2 and 2,339 km2 in India and in some big cities of Japan, respectively (TERI, 1996; Mimura and Yokoki, 2004). For one metre sea-level rise with high tide and storm surge, the maximum inundation area is estimated to be 2,643 km2 or about 1.2% of total area of the Korean Peninsula (Matsen and Jakobsen, 2004). In China, a 30 cm sea-level rise would inundate 81,348 km2 of coastal lowland (Du and Zhang, 2000).

The coastal lowlands below the elevation of 1,000-year storm surge are widely distributed in Bangladesh, China, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand, where millions of people live (Nicholls, 2004). In Japan, an area of 861 km2 of coastal lowland is located below high water level mainly in large cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. A one metre rise in sea level could put up to 4.1 million people at risk (Mimura and Yokoki, 2004). Using a coarse digital terrain model and global population distribution data, it is estimated that more than 1 million people will be directly affected by sea-level rise in 2050 in each of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta in Bangladesh, the Mekong delta in Vietnam and the Nile delta in Egypt (see Chapter 6, Box 6.3; Ericson et al., 2005). Damages in flooded areas are largely dependent on the coastal protection level. It can be much less in highly protected coasts like in Japan but can be very high such as in coastal areas of South Asia where the protection level is low. A 30 cm rise in sea level will increase coastal flooding areas by five or six times in both the ‘with’ and ‘without protection’ scenarios in the Changjiang and Zhujiang deltas. Similarly, the flooding areas in the Huanghe delta for a 100 cm rise in sea level are almost the same under the ‘without protection’ and ‘existing protection’ scenarios. These two cases indicate that the current protection level is insufficient to protect the coasts from high sea-level rise (Du and Zhang, 2000; Li et al., 2004a). Further climate warming may lead to an increase in tropical cyclone destructive potential, and with an increasing coastal population substantial increase in hurricane-related losses in the 21st century is likely (Emanuel, 2005).

In summary, all coastal areas in Asia are facing an increasing range of stresses and shocks, the scale of which now poses a threat to the resilience of both human and environmental coastal systems, and are likely to be exacerbated by climate change. The projected future sea-level rise could inundate low lying areas, drown coastal marshes and wetlands, erode beaches, exacerbate flooding and increase the salinity of rivers, bays and aquifers. With higher sea level, coastal regions would also be subject to increased wind and flood damage due to storm surges associated with more intense tropical storms. In addition, warming would also have far reaching implications for marine ecosystems in Asia.