The Ability of Societies to Adapt to Twenty-First-Century Sea-Level Rise

June 2018 |
Publisher(s): 
Nature Climate Change |
Author(s): 
Jochen Hinkel, Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts, Sally Brown, Jose A. Jiménez, Daniel Lincke, Robert J. Nicholls, Paolo Scussolini, Agustín Sanchez-Arcilla, Athanasios Vafeidis, Kwasi Appeaning Addo


Against the background of potentially substantial sea-level rise, one important question is to what extent are coastal societies able to adapt? This question is often answered in the negative by referring to sinking islands and submerged megacities. Although these risks are real, the picture is incomplete because it lacks consideration of adaptation.

In The Ability of Societies to Adapt to Twenty-First-Century Sea-Level Rise the authors integrate perspectives from coastal engineering, economics, finance and social sciences, and provide a comparative analysis of a set of cases that vary in terms of technological limits, economic and financial barriers to adaptation and social conflicts.

 

Explore related resources on the Green Growth Knowledge Platform:

Theme(s): 

Climate Change

Key search terms: 

sea level rise, risks, climate change adaptation, adaptations, specific financing mechanisms, financial barriers to sustainability

Share