It’s well known that as global temperatures increase, sea levels will rise, and will significantly impact low lying coastal cities. More than 1 billion of the world’s population lives in these coastal cities. Places like Miami, Mumbai, New York, and Shanghai, are just a few of the major cities that are likely to see their landscapes change in the next 100 years by sea level rise. Communicating climate change effectively can be difficult when some impacts are slow to occur. Interactive visualization tools have a growing role in communicating about coastal hazards exacerbated by climate change, such as erosion and supporting land use decisions. One example of an effective tool comes from the Government of New Brunswick, which has developed a web portal that includes a free interactive mapping tool to explore coastal erosion data. In Bilbao, Spain, an interesting approach to communicating sea level rise comes from a project started in 2011. In the waterfront district of the town, a thin blue line has been painted at roughly a metre above the high-tide mark. It’s striking imagery to see this blue line cut through walls, trees, and lamp-posts marking where the water level could sit at within the next 100 years. Then there are cities that are in their last-ditch efforts to save themselves from the rising waters. Venice, Italy is a city famous for its beautiful canal ways that are in part due to Aqua Alta, a natural phenomenon that has been happening for centuries. Aqua Alta is when higher water levels seasonally invade Venice, but the water levels are now increasing beyond comfort due to sea level rise. A combination of mitigation measures is being taken to protect the city from increased flooding. Citizens are now using boards that slit into the bottom of their doors to block the water during high tide. Infrastructure is being raised where possible, and early warning systems are constantly being refined to ensure the public know when the tides are happening and what to expect. There is no doubt that sea level rise is an important climate impact that will need to be mitigated in order for business as usual to continue in coastal cities. Venice is not an exception, it is just one of the first cities that is seeing drastic impacts of sea level rise, many more will follow in the coming years. http://dark-mountain.net/blog/thin-blue-line-sea-level-rise-and-the-new-intertidal-city/ Water Canada magazine, Coastal Action. https://urpl590resilience.wordpress.com/2016/05/02/venice-italy-rising-sea-levels-and-flood-water-management-and-mitigation-practices/ AuthorColleen Cranmer
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July 2017
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