Indirect Impacts

 

• Changes to ocean circulation could have dramatic and unforeseeable consequences

  • ​Drastic Climate change due to changes in global heat transport as a result of shifts in ocean circulation.  

  • Ecosystem change/degradation.  Even small changes in salinity and temperature can be detrimental to many aquatic species.  

• Loss of coastal land/infrastructure will become a logistical and financial burden for affected countries

• Relocation of coastal population will also be expensive

 

Sea level rise is one of the most pressing consequences of climate change facing us in the next century.  Even the projected ~1 m of sea level predicted for the end of the century is enough to cause inundation of countless low lying coastal areas (Fig. 1).  For example, those low-lying coast areas, especially around the mouths of large rivers are particularly susceptible to even small changes in sea level (eg. New Orleans, Bangladesh, Shanghai).  Given these projections and the cost of the consequences (financial and otherwise), sea level rise is a real and tangible threat. Given the projections of this chapter, policy makers have the results they need to act on and plan for future consequences of sea level rise.