The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Developing Countries : A Comparative Analysis
Sea level rise (SLR) due to climate change is a serious global threat. The scientific evidence is now overwhelming. Continued growth of greenhouse gas emissions and associated global warming could well promote SLR of 1m-3m in this century, and unex...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/02/7383552/impact-sea-level-rise-developing-countries-comparative-analysis http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7174 |
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okr-10986-71742021-04-23T14:02:33Z The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Developing Countries : A Comparative Analysis Dasgupta, Susmita Laplante, Benoit Meisner, Craig Wheeler, David Yan, Jianping AGRICULTURE ANTARCTIC ICE SHEETS ANTARCTICA ASPECT ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION ATMOSPHERIC CONCENTRATION BIODIVERSITY CENTER CENTRE CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE COAST COASTAL AREAS COASTAL STATES DATA QUALITY DATA SETS DATA SOURCES DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DIGITAL ELEVATION DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL FLOODS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE GDP GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM GIS GLACIERS GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT GLOBAL WARMING GREENHOUSE GAS GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT HEAT WAVES HUMAN ACTIVITY ICE CAPS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE IPCC LAKES LAND AREA LAND SURFACE LAND USE MIDDLE EAST NATIONAL POPULATION NORTH AFRICA NUMBER OF PEOPLE OVERLAY POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POTENTIAL IMPACTS PROGRESS QUALITY ASSURANCE QUALITY CONTROL REGIONAL IMPACTS RESOURCE ALLOCATION RISING SEA LEVELS RIVER RIVER DELTAS SAHARA SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE SEA LEVEL SEA LEVEL RISE SHORELINES SOUTH ASIAN STORMS SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA TA THE GAMBIA TOLERANCE URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE URBAN POPULATION WAVES WETLAND WETLANDS WETLANDS LOSS Sea level rise (SLR) due to climate change is a serious global threat. The scientific evidence is now overwhelming. Continued growth of greenhouse gas emissions and associated global warming could well promote SLR of 1m-3m in this century, and unexpectedly rapid breakup of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets might produce a 5m SLR. In this paper, the authors have assessed the consequences of continued SLR for 84 developing countries. Geographic Information System (GIS) software has been used to overlay the best available, spatially-disaggregated global data on critical impact elements (land, population, agriculture, urban extent, wetlands, and GDP) with the inundation zones projected for 1-5m SLR. The results reveal that hundreds of millions of people in the developing world are likely to be displaced by SLR within this century, and accompanying economic and ecological damage will be severe for many. At the country level, results are extremely skewed, with severe impacts limited to a relatively small number of countries. For these countries (such as Vietnam, A. R. of Egypt, and The Bahamas), however, the consequences of SLR are potentially catastrophic. For many others, including some of the largest (such as China), the absolute magnitudes of potential impacts are very large. At the other extreme, many developing countries experience limited impacts. Among regions, East Asia and the Middle East and North Africa exhibit the greatest relative impacts. To date, there is little evidence that the international community has seriously considered the implications of SLR for population location and infrastructure planning in developing countries. The authors hope that the information provided in this paper will encourage immediate planning for adaptation. 2012-06-05T20:08:00Z 2012-06-05T20:08:00Z 2007-02 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/02/7383552/impact-sea-level-rise-developing-countries-comparative-analysis http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7174 English Policy Research Working Paper; No. 4136 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
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World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
AGRICULTURE ANTARCTIC ICE SHEETS ANTARCTICA ASPECT ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION ATMOSPHERIC CONCENTRATION BIODIVERSITY CENTER CENTRE CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE COAST COASTAL AREAS COASTAL STATES DATA QUALITY DATA SETS DATA SOURCES DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DIGITAL ELEVATION DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL FLOODS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE GDP GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM GIS GLACIERS GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT GLOBAL WARMING GREENHOUSE GAS GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT HEAT WAVES HUMAN ACTIVITY ICE CAPS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE IPCC LAKES LAND AREA LAND SURFACE LAND USE MIDDLE EAST NATIONAL POPULATION NORTH AFRICA NUMBER OF PEOPLE OVERLAY POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POTENTIAL IMPACTS PROGRESS QUALITY ASSURANCE QUALITY CONTROL REGIONAL IMPACTS RESOURCE ALLOCATION RISING SEA LEVELS RIVER RIVER DELTAS SAHARA SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE SEA LEVEL SEA LEVEL RISE SHORELINES SOUTH ASIAN STORMS SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA TA THE GAMBIA TOLERANCE URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE URBAN POPULATION WAVES WETLAND WETLANDS WETLANDS LOSS |
| spellingShingle |
AGRICULTURE ANTARCTIC ICE SHEETS ANTARCTICA ASPECT ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION ATMOSPHERIC CONCENTRATION BIODIVERSITY CENTER CENTRE CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE COAST COASTAL AREAS COASTAL STATES DATA QUALITY DATA SETS DATA SOURCES DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DIGITAL ELEVATION DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL FLOODS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE GDP GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM GIS GLACIERS GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT GLOBAL WARMING GREENHOUSE GAS GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT HEAT WAVES HUMAN ACTIVITY ICE CAPS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE IPCC LAKES LAND AREA LAND SURFACE LAND USE MIDDLE EAST NATIONAL POPULATION NORTH AFRICA NUMBER OF PEOPLE OVERLAY POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POTENTIAL IMPACTS PROGRESS QUALITY ASSURANCE QUALITY CONTROL REGIONAL IMPACTS RESOURCE ALLOCATION RISING SEA LEVELS RIVER RIVER DELTAS SAHARA SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE SEA LEVEL SEA LEVEL RISE SHORELINES SOUTH ASIAN STORMS SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA TA THE GAMBIA TOLERANCE URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE URBAN POPULATION WAVES WETLAND WETLANDS WETLANDS LOSS Dasgupta, Susmita Laplante, Benoit Meisner, Craig Wheeler, David Yan, Jianping The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Developing Countries : A Comparative Analysis |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper; No. 4136 |
| description |
Sea level rise (SLR) due to climate
change is a serious global threat. The scientific evidence
is now overwhelming. Continued growth of greenhouse gas
emissions and associated global warming could well promote
SLR of 1m-3m in this century, and unexpectedly rapid breakup
of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets might produce
a 5m SLR. In this paper, the authors have assessed the
consequences of continued SLR for 84 developing countries.
Geographic Information System (GIS) software has been used
to overlay the best available, spatially-disaggregated
global data on critical impact elements (land, population,
agriculture, urban extent, wetlands, and GDP) with the
inundation zones projected for 1-5m SLR. The results reveal
that hundreds of millions of people in the developing world
are likely to be displaced by SLR within this century, and
accompanying economic and ecological damage will be severe
for many. At the country level, results are extremely
skewed, with severe impacts limited to a relatively small
number of countries. For these countries (such as Vietnam,
A. R. of Egypt, and The Bahamas), however, the consequences
of SLR are potentially catastrophic. For many others,
including some of the largest (such as China), the absolute
magnitudes of potential impacts are very large. At the other
extreme, many developing countries experience limited
impacts. Among regions, East Asia and the Middle East and
North Africa exhibit the greatest relative impacts. To date,
there is little evidence that the international community
has seriously considered the implications of SLR for
population location and infrastructure planning in
developing countries. The authors hope that the information
provided in this paper will encourage immediate planning for adaptation. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Dasgupta, Susmita Laplante, Benoit Meisner, Craig Wheeler, David Yan, Jianping |
| author_facet |
Dasgupta, Susmita Laplante, Benoit Meisner, Craig Wheeler, David Yan, Jianping |
| author_sort |
Dasgupta, Susmita |
| title |
The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Developing Countries : A Comparative Analysis |
| title_short |
The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Developing Countries : A Comparative Analysis |
| title_full |
The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Developing Countries : A Comparative Analysis |
| title_fullStr |
The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Developing Countries : A Comparative Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Developing Countries : A Comparative Analysis |
| title_sort |
impact of sea level rise on developing countries : a comparative analysis |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/02/7383552/impact-sea-level-rise-developing-countries-comparative-analysis http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7174 |
| _version_ |
1764401561681788928 |