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© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. J. Culver (ed.), Troubled Waters, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52383-1_5
Chapter 5
A Different Kind of Sea-Level Story
from Malaysia
Peter R. Parham
Abstract In many countries of Southeast Asia, the sea is the primary source of
food and center of the community. Life is very simple and intertwined with the
ocean’s moods. So many people depend on this sea, day after day, generation after
generation, despite monsoons, typhoons, erosion and flooding, death and hardship.
Surprisingly, little study had been undertaken to help these communities anticipate
the impact of coastal change on their lives and livelihoods. My study of nearly every
Malaysian island, shore and coastal plain stream allowed me to interpret past coastal
influences and predict future impact. It also allowed me to experience this amazing
country and her people under every conceivable circumstance, some warm or amusing, some perilous and some death-defying.
Keywords Malaysia · Borneo · South China Sea · Coastal geomorphology ·
Paleo-sea level
P. R. Parham (*)
US Army Corps of Engineers, Conchas, NM, USA
Permanent International Fellow, Centre of Tropical Geoengineering, Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
How foolish to believe we are more powerful than the sea or
the sky.
Ruta Sepetys
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. J. Culver (ed.), Troubled Waters, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52383-1_5
Chapter 5
A Different Kind of Sea-Level Story
from Malaysia
Peter R. Parham
Abstract In many countries of Southeast Asia, the sea is the primary source of
food and center of the community. Life is very simple and intertwined with the
ocean’s moods. So many people depend on this sea, day after day, generation after
generation, despite monsoons, typhoons, erosion and flooding, death and hardship.
Surprisingly, little study had been undertaken to help these communities anticipate
the impact of coastal change on their lives and livelihoods. My study of nearly every
Malaysian island, shore and coastal plain stream allowed me to interpret past coastal
influences and predict future impact. It also allowed me to experience this amazing
country and her people under every conceivable circumstance, some warm or amusing, some perilous and some death-defying.
Keywords Malaysia · Borneo · South China Sea · Coastal geomorphology ·
Paleo-sea level
P. R. Parham (*)
US Army Corps of Engineers, Conchas, NM, USA
Permanent International Fellow, Centre of Tropical Geoengineering, Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
How foolish to believe we are more powerful than the sea or
the sky.
Ruta Sepetys