----------------------------Original message---------------------------- > ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- > We have a patron who wants a map showing the effect upon the world's > coastlines of a one-metre rise in sea-level. In fact, she would settle > upon a map of any part of the world where the effect would be > particularly noticeable--e.g. Florida or the Maritime provinces in > Canada. I have searched through the usual sources, mostly atlases, but > found nothing. I tried atlases of Florida, including one devoted to > water resources, TImes Atlas of the Oceans, and so on. But no luck. > ANyone have any ideas? Thanks. What TYPE of impacts does your client have in mind? Flood vulnerability? Increased erosion? Wetland loss? sediment budget changes? all of these or neither? There have been local studies of the impacts of sea-level rise undertaken in various places - my colleague, Robert Devoy here in Cork, had a paper on the possible future impacts of s.l.r. on the coasts of Ireland published in the journal "Irish Geography" a year or two ago (sorry - don't have the full reference to hand). You might look up the work of the late Bill (Prof R.W.G.) Carter - for example his book "Coastal Environments" (Academic Press, 1987-ish). Also, Prof. Jerome Dobson (Martin Marietta Systems Inc., and Oak Ridge National Labs in Tennessee) has been involved in the US Coastwatch project, which used satellite (Landsat) imagery to look at changes in wetlands around the coasts of the USA (incl. non-contiguous areas). Sea-level change was one of the factors they considered. However, I don't know what vertical resolution they worked to. One big problem, of course, is that there are very few areas of the world where the coast has been systematically surveyed to 1 meter vertical resolution (let alone sub-metre scales). So any maps will be very gross estimates and generalisations. Also, the impacts of sea level rise are likely to be MUCH more complex than would appear by simply raising the plane of the water level by 1 metre - thngs like storm surge behaviour, beach profiles, wetland extent and morphology, will also change, often in non-"linear" manner. So, again, your patron needs to be aware that any map you may get hold of is also almost certainly going to massively generalise and smooth over these complications. Finally, the consensus of scientific predictions about near-future sea-level changes, as I understand it, has progressively refined the estimated magnitude of s.l.r. from the early extremes of 5 metres or more (e.g. Jim Titus' work for the US E.P.A. in the 1970s and early 1980s) to much more conservative sub-metre levels. So, according to current thinkng, we are unlikely to actually have a one-metre rise. About half of that seems to be the global mean prediction these days - measured / projected over the next century or so. Sorry if this comes over as a bit pedantic - I hope you can find a map to keep your client happy! regards, Darius Bartlett University College Cork, Ireland.