Climate change denotes both the warming of the earth’s oceans and the atmosphere in addition to a rise in the natural inconsistency of the climate (Fisher, 2011). In the Nova Scotia province, changes in the climate poses hazards to communities. A rise in the occurrence of severe weather events, variability in water quality and availability, rise in sea levels, and alterations to the performance of infrastructural systems, is creating a necessity for municipalities to transform the manner in which they manage their operations and capital assets. Concerns regarding causes and effect of climate change have infiltrated into the municipal council chambers as the experience demonstrates that these changes affect drinking water within the water industry. …show more content…
Climate change hazards comprise of destruction or damage resulting from severe events (snow, rain, and wind), and flooding of equipment and facilities of the infrastructure for drinking water (Fisher, 2011). Climate change causes inundation from the rise in sea level, and changes in trends of water availability, affecting the drinking water’s industry capacity to provide safe water. The overall impacts of climate change on operating costs are evident on the rise in the incidences of extreme storms, storm surges, flooding and other events related to climate change. These effects place additional challenges on the operationalization of municipal infrastructure, beyond the requirement for regular renewal, refits, and maintenance. Essentially, all systems of infrastructure for the water industry are situated engineered and natural environments influenced affected by climate change. For instance, climate change can and does affect wastewater, water, and storm water utility amenities currently and well into the impending days (DeRomilly et al., 2005). There is a high possibility of the municipalities needing expertise and resources and that cannot be delivered …show more content…
Increased flooding and erosion will likely mean substantial effects on coastal communities with destruction to bridges, houses, buildings, roads and other kinds of infrastructure, and the hazard of fresh water supplies contamination, damage to sewage treatment and drainage systems. Sensitive habitats and important coastal resources could also be at danger from the impacts of increased flooding and erosion (Feltmate & Thistlethwaite, 2011). Moreover, there are a host of other regions, which may experience influences from increased flooding and erosion such as human health, human activities, and safety, insurance, emergency preparedness, construction, property ownership, maintenance and repair costs, legal issues, jurisdiction, and
Investigating the Geographical Processes that are Affecting the Physical and Built Coastal Environment There are three geographical processes that are affecting the physical and built coastal environment, they are; erosion, deposition, and transportation. Erosion is the group of natural processes, including weathering, dissolution, abrasion, corrosion, and transportation, by which material is worn away from the earth’s surface, this is mainly caused by wind, running water, and waves breaking on the coast. Deposition is the depositing something or the laying down of matter by a natural process. Transportation is when sand is moved along the coast by long shore drift. At North Cronulla beach erosion is evident.
Case Study of Hastings Coastal Management Hastings is a town on the south coast of England approximately 60 miles south of London (see map below). In recent years, the coastline at Hastings has had to face many large scale problems, including the 10 km stretch from Hastings eastwards to the small town of Fairlight. With the coastline at constant exposure to the English Channel, there are many coastal processes which take place along the stretch of beach and cliff. [IMAGE][IMAGE] [IMAGE][IMAGE] Longshore Drift [IMAGE] Fetch [IMAGE]The map on the left illustrates the location of Hastings and also the area of the coastline which is being discussed in this case study.
... consider some ideas of what can be done to further enhance the management of the coastal issue. Using the research action plan, I aim to acquire a sophisticated understanding of longshore drift, coastal management and implementations of coastal issues, through the research action plan. Most importantly, I will include various diagrams explaining how the process of longshore drift occurs and what implementations it has on coastal environments, accompanied by an explanation of how the issue is being managed, a detailed outline of the geographical processes involved and a discussion of the impacts of the issue and why it is important.
It is an unquestioned fact that the climate is changing. There is abundant evidence that the world is becoming warmer and warmer. The temperature of the global land average temperature has increased by about 8.5 degrees centigrade from 1880 to 2012 (Karr, et al 406). The one or two degrees increase in temperature can cause dramatic and serious consequences to the earth as well as humans. More extreme weather occurs, such as heat waves and droughts. The Arctic Region is especially sensitive to global climate change. According to the data in recent decades, the temperature in the Arctic has increased by more than 2 degrees centigrade in the recent half century (Przybylak 316). Climate change has led to a series of environmental and ecological negative
Climate and weather are similar, describing how the atmosphere behaves, the difference being the timescale (Conway, 2010). Weather is a short-term scale of temperature and precipitation, usually considering weeks or less (ibid). Climate, however, is a long term description of months or longer, describing different seasons and trends of temperature and precipitation. Climate of Vancouver is typically mild during the spring and summer and damp during the autumn and winter, and unlike other mountainous areas of British Columbia, it is not excessively cold or snowy (“Hello BC”, n.d.).
Coastal erosion is a growing problem along the Gulf Coast. Louisiana is one of the coastal states most affected by coastal erosion. Ninety percent of wetland loss in the nation occurs in Louisiana, losing 25-35 square miles per year. At that rate, Louisiana will lose 640,000 more acres by 2050. Many factors contribute to this land loss, such as rising sea levels, subsidence, hurricane storm surge, cold fronts, and human interference. Cold fronts and hurricanes can both have detrimental consequences on the coast of Louisiana (Zhang 2004) (Restore or Retreat 2012). This research shows whether cold fronts or hurricanes have a larger effect on coastal erosion. The researcher will describe how historical and current satellite imagery help in determining the changes in the Louisiana coast. Based on previous research, the researcher believes that hurricanes have more of an effect on coastal erosion than cold fronts due to the high winds and storm surge.
Not only has urban development faced damage from these coastal changes, however by changing coastal stability, development itself has increased erosion. Buildings, roads and homes built too close to the beach have become vulnerable to erosion due to extreme weather conditions. Furthermore, during storms, large waves cause severe erosion to this beach. Consequently, wave patterns change as they are are not naturally rolling onto the beach. Instead, they are smashing against built surfaces/structures (causing more erosion) and then are being violently pushed back.
Climate change is no doubt one of the greatest threats to this planet today. Coastal cities flooding due to melting ice caps and rising water levels, cities experiencing extreme weather, and ocean life dying because of warmer water temperatures, it is not wonder why so many scientist and country leaders are worried about the safety and future of their country. The U.S. is just one of these countries where climate change endangers 333 million people. That is why the U.S. must take action to assure the future of their residents and safety of their numerous coastal cities. Due to the rising coastal water levels, previous legislative mistakes, and the risk of further climate change consequences, President Trump should acknowledge the need for the
Cities in Texas are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Depending on where they are located, cities vary in their vulnerability and most major cities face a decline in water resources. Coastal cities, such as from Houston to the Rio Grande, are exposed to a rise in sea level. The decline of fresh water reservoirs and the rising sea level ...
Over the past 100 years the Louisiana coastline has suffered greatly from biotic, abiotic, and anthropogenic factors. The abiotic factors include things such as hurricanes or overnutrition that influence the surrounding biota. The biotic factors that contribute to coastal erosion are things like the immigration invasive species and the emigration or extinction of local flora and fauna that help preserve the wetlands. Additionally, there are anthropogenic factors such as pollution that can have strong negative influences on the abiotic and biotic factors of the wetlands. Each one of these factors cause ecological disturbances to the wetlands at a frequency and intensity that is unmanageable for the local flora and fauna. There are currently certain measures that are being taken into consideration to slow or stop the erosion of the Louisiana coastline.
Human activity is one of the leading causes of the disappearance of coastal wetlands. As the human population increases in coastal cities so does the demand for more land. Urbanization is causing enormous amounts of devastation to the existing wetlands. Unrestricted development is causing the erosion of soil, which is dumping foreign sediments into the wetlands polluting the water and disturbing the ecosystem. According to Lee et al. (2006) “Urbanization is a major cause of loss of coastal wetlands. Urbanization also exerts significant influences on the structure and function of coastal wetlands, mainly through modifying the hydrological and sedimentation regimes, and the dynamics of nutrients and chemical pollutants”. Restrictions on the development...
One of the top benefits of a living shoreline is erosion control and protection from storms. Shoreline hardening has major impacts on the environment such as causing altering coastal morphology and increases in erosion. When we remove these natural coastlines and implement engineered technologies, we put the ecosystems and also, infrastructure near the shoreline, at risk. Over the past 10 years after a few major storms and tsunamis, people have begun to implement more natural shorelines and nature-based defense systems because of the failure of traditional erosion protection, such as hardened shorelines (Arkema, Griffin, Guerry, Maldonado, Silver, and Suckale, 2017). Four examples of coastal defenses that are being used near communities
Many scientific studies also show increases in the intensity, duration, and extent of droughts, higher atmospheric temperatures, warmer sea surface temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, and diminishing glaciers and snowpack. The bottom line is that causes of climate change, such as greenhouse gas emissions, will have to be minimized if people want to do as much as possible to solve the water crisis. Works Cited Water demand management: the case of Zaragoza, Spain Web 25 Nov. 2014. http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/swm_cities_zaragoza_2010/pdf/final_report_swm_cities.pdf.
One of the major effects of global warming is the rise of sea level due to thermal expansion of the ocean, in addition to the melting of land ice. Now there are dozens of land areas that sit well below sea level and the majority of those land areas are very well populated. At least 40 percent of the world 's population lives within 62 miles of the ocean, putting millions of lives and billions of dollars ' worth of property and infrastructure at risk. (Juliet Christian-Smith, 2011) This means if the sea level rises to the projected level of 25 meters (82 feet) half of the world will retreat back to the ocean. (Rohrer, 2007) Also rising sea levels means higher tides and storm surges riding on ever-higher seas which are more dangerous to people and coastal inf...
According to the Canada’s Action on Climate Change, Climate change is a long-term shift in weather conditions identified by changes in temperature, precipitation, winds, and other indicators. Climate change can involve both changes in average conditions and changes in variability, including, for example, extreme events. Climate change is one of the biggest crisis in the earth. It will cause a huge damage to the eco-system and human. We are the victims of the climate change. However, we are the one who cause the climate change.