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7.3 Sea Level Rise and Low-lying Lands
Climate change and sea level rise are expected to pose considerable challenges to
human civilization in the coming centuries, and their consequences in the course of
the twenty-first century alone are widely discussed in media and academia. However,
the problem posed by sea level rise depends on the time scales on which it is considered. Though present-day society concerns relate to the likely sea levels within
the lifespan of those alive today, it is important to remember that such changes will
not stop by the year 2100. Hence, when considering the sustainability implications
of sea level rise, it is important to keep this factor clearly in mind, as it will influence
how to deal with the issues involved. To illustrate how time scales influence the
choice of adaptation strategies, the authors will describe the problems being faced
by low-lying coral islands, which traditionally depend on coral reefs to supply the
materials necessary to compensate for sea level rise (Yamamoto and Esteban 2014).
Fig. 7.2 The entire downtown area of Otsuchi is being elevated, as part of the strengthening of
Layer 2 countermeasures
M. Esteban et al.