Climate change, a term we as a humanity should fear more than we do. When discussing climate change many questions come to mind. Is it real? What does it matter if it is a little hotter out? What can we do to combat it? Climate change will affect places differently throughout the world based on a handful of different geographical factors. Considering this, it is relevant to consider a question many do not, “How severe and in what ways will a raised global temperature caused by climate change impact coastal regions?” Overall, after thorough research, the strongest argument for the question at hand is that climate change will negatively impact coastal regions to a great extent when considering the severity of storms and elevation of sea level.

Before this question can be considered, it is vital to define what climate change is and prove that it is occurring. Climate change for the purposes of this essay will refer to the rise in temperature and its effects on other aspects of the environment such as the intensity of storms or rise in sea level. Many believe climate change is a hoax, which cannot be the case. There is ample evidence to refute this notion. In Climate Change Impact on Coastal Habitation, the author, a well-respected and published climatologist who works for the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, brings up the quantitative data that show the world’s temperature is increasing. He wrote, “For instance the global warming in the first half of this century varied from .2 ° C in the tropics to 2.2 ° C in the polar cap.” (Schuurmans) The author is providing clear evidence that the world is getting warmer. Climate change deniers are out there but it is hard to make a solid case against this science.

Coastal areas can be described as the areas of land that border oceans. The two most probable impacts of climate change to these areas will be stronger storms and an increased sea level. The most straight forward problem will be a higher sea level caused by melting ice. This is a huge problem because coastal regions are densely populated due to the demand of waterfront access. The amount of people that live in coastal regions is disproportionate to anywhere else in the world excluding major cities. These groups are not exclusive though because some of the world’s largest and most populated cities such as New York City border the water. In a scholarly journal by Gordon McGranahan, a scholar who focuses on urbanization and climate science, breaks down the statistics of those who live in low coastal zones of 10 meters or less above sea level. They found that, “this zone covers 2 percent of the world’s land area but contains 10 percent of the world’s population and 13 percent of the world’s urban population.” (McGranahan) This sets the stakes for the severity of this issue. If 10 percent of the Earth’s population were to be displaced from their homes, it would be chaos. The same work cites evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change with the projection that from 1990 to 2080 the sea level will rise by 22 to 34 centimeters. This is an alarming rate for sea level to change in under a century. However, it is not the most accurate prediction because this journal was released in 2007 and the expected rate of climate change has increased since then as shown by more recent predictions in sea level change. 

This rise will be caused by a multitude of ice sheets melting. In a Ted Talk presented by Jason Briner, a climate scientist at the University of Buffalo who has performed hands-on research on multiple glaciers since 1994, provides specific example of melting glaciers. Briner has performed research on Jakobshavn’s glacier in Greenland and has seen firsthand that from 2001 to 2015, approximately 10 miles worth of glacier has melted away. He says, “it’s parallel but to a lesser extent of glaciers in the Artic”. (Briner) This proves that these glaciers are melting at an alarming rate due to the warmer world we now live in. Briner also provides a chart that shows how sea level has already changed and how he and other scientists believe it will change. In the last century the sea level has already risen a foot. They predict that by 2100 the sea level will rise by an astonishing 26 to 38 inches. This prediction is more than double the one mentioned earlier from 2007. Sea level raising by 3 times as much from one century to the next is hard to ignore. With all this evidence it is safe to say that the threat of sea level elevation is prevalent. 

An elevated sea level means a lot more than just the water being higher there are many impacts to consider. In another Ted Talk presented by Vicki Arroyo, Executive Director of the Georgetown Climate Center at Georgetown Law, she discusses many of the effects of climate change throughout the world. She shows a map of Vietnam and shows how 1 to 2 meters in a sea level increase would wipe out 50 percent of Vietnams rice fields. What would a country do to help feed their hungry people with half of a staple food gone? 

Financial implications also must be considered. It will be a struggle to pay to prevent the sea level from affecting these regions. It is not cheap to create jetties to deter water or to install permanent revetments (similar to sandbags used during floods). An article from an organization based out of Florida begins to discuss the problem of paying. It suggests that, “A question that arises in this context is how ad valorem taxation will be impacted in coastal counties if sea levels rise as predicted. …. if sea-level rise negatively impacts coastal property values, then the local governments of coastal communities will have less revenue to work with.” This puts the areas by the coast in quite the predicament because taxes will be raised but the property values will decrease. It will be difficult to find a balanced way to pay for adaptations to sea level rise that will allow people to still live their physically and financially. Unfortunately, the article did not contain projections of how much it may cost, but the organization based on their urgency seems to think it will be greatly expensive to mollify the effects of sea level rise. Overall, the raised temperatures will cause ice to melt, which in turn raises sea level and greatly affects those who live in low lying coastal areas in multitude of ways. 

Furthermore, another key impact of a raised global temperature is the strength of storms. This is predicted by many climate scientists because an increased ocean temperature will provide more energy for storm systems. First however it is important to mention a common counterclaim a few scientists in the field have: that an increased ocean temperature will not affect the intensity of storms. In an article by Madhav Khandeka, an environmental scientist with a Ph.D. in Meteorology from Florida State University, refutes the claim that raised ocean temperatures mean stronger storms. He discusses the six factors (rotational tendency, pressure gradient, wind shear, ocean thermal energy, rate of change in temperature according to altitude, and humidity) that contribute to hurricane severity which as stated includes the temperature of the ocean. Khandeka goes on to say the only exceptional causes out of the six he mentions for Hurricane Irma and Harvey (two massive hurricanes that did substantial damage to the southeast United States in the summer of 2017) were the wind shears also known as wind gradient. Wind shears do not have to do with temperature change but more so with how the wind is different over short distances. He claims that the ocean is not considerably warmer than it has been in the past few years. While this may be true it is fair to scientifically argue his assessment that “Hurricanes are not the result of climate change” (title of his article). 

The author of that article is a well-known climate change naysayer which means he will likely support his belief unless the scientific evidence heavily refutes it. In all fairness however, it truly is difficult to predict the future of storms or even compare to past hurricanes. In a New York Times article by Nadja Popovich, a well published graphics editor of the New York Times, she puts it well, saying, “They are rare events, with only about a dozen observed even in an active season, so there is a sparse historical record for study. And hurricanes are complex weather systems, so computer modeling requires huge amounts of processing power.” (Popovich) This is a valid point because climatologists only have a certain amount of well documented past hurricanes to compare with. It does not mean there are none to compare with and it does not mean that each year we will see stronger storms year after year. We can make inferences and use what we know about how these storm systems work based of the temperature of the world. 

Through research it became clear that most of the climate science field supports the idea that the future holds more intense storms because of an increased global temperature. John Schwartz, a climate writer since 2000, published an article in The New York Times that supports this concept. In it he says, “Temperatures have been rising, and theory and computer modeling suggest an increase in storm intensity in a warmer world, “and the models generally show an increase in the number of very intense” storms.” (Schwartz)The author using his theoretical models to support his claim is saying that storms in the future will be stronger because we will be living on a warmer planet. The author goes on to cite a climate scientist from Texas A&M who provides the knowledge that an increased ocean temperature increases the moisture content of the air. This is what fuels these hurricanes and causes them to dump massive amounts of rain and have increased wind speeds. To refer again to Schuurmans’ book he uses GCMs (General Circulation Models), which are essentially models of the Earth’s climate with adjusted concentrations of carbon dioxide, air temperatures, and water temperatures. Through these he found that if the water were to increase by 3 degrees Celsius the maximum intensity of tropical cyclones would increase by 40%. While he goes on to say currently we do not often see maximum strength cyclones it implies that the average hurricane intensity will be elevated.

There is a direct correlation between the strength of storms and the threat these storms pose to coastal regions. If there are more intense storms that come off the warmer oceans, the inhabitants there are at greater risk. With increased wind power the amount of damage these storms can do to coastal regions will increase as well. Increased wind speed means increased damage caused by winds such as falling trees or wind damage to homes. Storm surge which is when ocean water is pushed ashore will also increase and inundation is more likely to occur. Increased amount of rain means more flooding which will cause worse than just water damage. If someone gets injured at their home or what is left of it while there are extensive amounts of flooding, there is no way they can get help. It is dangerous to try and drive to evacuate if the winds are that intense and if there is that much flooding. It will increase the cost it takes to rebuild communities and their spirits. Unfortunately, the number of casualties for those who cannot evacuate will be greater. This is a threatening, but realistic threat that a warmer world presents. 

In conclusion, due to climate change, a world that is warmer means more than just hotter days. Those who live in coastal regions are in danger of this world we are headed towards. Every day that passes, large amounts of ice are melting. This will raise the sea level around the world which is not an easy task to prepare against. Raised sea levels imply more than lost beach space; it means entire cities and countries in coastal regions will go under water and lose vital land for inhabitants and agriculture. The risk of storms is ever present as well. A warmer ocean temperature caused by climate change means that hurricanes and storms can be stronger. The thermal energy of the ocean directly correlates to how strong the winds of a storm will be as well as the amount of rain a storm system can dump to cause flooding. There is no way to stop a storm, therefore we can only hope we will never see these storms and those who live in coastal regions can evacuate. Stronger storms will cause more damage with high winds and those who live there will have their lives threatened. These two factors are clearly impactful on coastal regions; people will have to change how they live or where they live if they want to remain safe and sound. Ultimately, it is important for everyone of all ages to consider how can I help prevent climate change?
