This paper provides an overview of the latest developments in methodologies for assessing the vulnerability of coastal zones to climate change at regional and local scales. The focus of vulnerability assessment in coastal zones used to be on erosion and land loss due to sea-level rise. Methodologies now increasingly consider the wide range of climate and impact variables that play a part in det...

[1] Coastal upwelling helps set the physical context for marine ecosystems, and upwelling zones are among the most productive regions of the global ocean. Unlike earlier models, two state-of-the-art climate models exhibit little change during the next century in the magnitude and seasonality of coastal upwelling, but climate models are still probably not sufficiently developed (for example, the...

Climate change may affect ocean-driven coastal flooding regimes by both raising the mean sea level (msl) and altering ocean-atmosphere interactions. For reliable projections of coastal flood risk, information provided by different climate models must be considered in addition to associated uncertainties. In this paper, we propose a framework to project future coastal water levels and quantify t...

The need to cope with the expected impacts of climate change on socio-ecological systems calls for a closer dialogue between climate scientists and the community of climate information users. We describe an interactive process designed to bridge this gap by establishing a two-way communication, based on mutual learning. We analyse the need of climate information for the integrated assessment of...

This paper presents the results of a preliminary study of climate vulnerability in East Timor. It shows the results of projections of climate change in East Timor. The country's climate may become hotter, drier, and increasingly variable. Sea levels are likely to rise. The paper then considers the implications of these changes on three natural resources--water, soils, and the coastal zone--and ...

1. The Coastal Zone 1.1. Climate Change 1.2. Sea Level and Sea Ice Fluctuations 1.3. Coastal Processes 1.4. Sediment Delivery 1.5. Beaches 1.6. Tidal Flats and Marshes 1.7. Mangroves 1.8. Coral Reefs, Coral Cays, Sea Grasses, and Seaweeds 1.9. Eutrophication and Pollution 1.10. Coastal Evolution 2. Estuarine Environments 2.1. Estuaries 2.2. Coastal Lagoons 2.3. Deltas 2.4. Estuarine Evolution 3...

Climate change has modified the structure and functions of ecosystems, affecting human well-being. Evergreen plants in the warm-temperate ecosystems will lose climatically suitable habitats under climate change but have not drawn much scholarly interest. Therefore, the present research aimed to predict the future climatic niches of eight coastal warm-adapted evergreen trees under climate change...

The NSW Government’s Sea Level Rise Policy Statement, Coastal Planning Guideline: Adapting to Sea Level Rise and Draft Guidelines for Preparing Coastal Zone Management Plans have endorsed the use of a ‘risk assessment approach’ to coastal zone management. The risk assessment framework is used extensively in industry and government as it provides a process for determining sensible management out...

The west coast of subtropical South America is characterized by a semi-arid climate and very persistent southerly winds that often exhibit a low-level jet structure. The nearly alongshore flow forces coastal and offshore upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich waters, thus supporting one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world and a wealth of fishery resources. Therefore, the evaluation ...

Coastal defences have long been employed to halt or slow coastal erosion, and their impact on local sediment flux and ecology has been studied in detail through field research and numerical simulation. The nonlocal impact of a modified sediment flux regime on mesoscale erosion and accretion has received less attention. Morphological changes at this scale due to defending structures can be diffi...