Launch online global viewer on changing coastlines
Water education institute IHE Delft launched an interactive tool that shows how climate change could affect coastal areas worldwide. The new online viewer provides a quick overview of projections for sea level rise, coastal flooding, shoreline retreat and extreme waves.
Planning and investment decisions
Global data sets of coastal climatic-impact drivers, such as those assessed in the first part of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report - Climate Change 2021 (IPCC AR6 WGI), indicate global and regional hotspots of potential impacts. These data sets enabled IHE Delft to produce the Coastal Futures (CoFu) global viewer for a quick comparison of different projections with just a few clicks.
The viewer can be used for spatial planning and investments in coastal areas. For example, an energy provider interested in the flooding risk faced by its powerplants located in coastal areas could use the viewer to access projections on extreme sea levels and coastal flooding. A development bank could use the viewer to prioritize investments aiming to mitigate consequences of climate change in coastal areas.
Free and centralized
According to the IHE Delft team, the viewer is a response to the many requests for overview projections received from people around the world. Leader of the team is professor Roshanka Ranasinghe, an expert on climate change impacts and coastal risk and a Coordinating Lead Author in IPCC AR6 WGI.
‘Free, centralized availability of multiple coastal climatic impact-driver projections for different time periods and climate scenarios can benefit many different people interested in coastal safety, coastal developments and climate adaptation’, Roshanka said. ‘The viewer aims to make the best and most up-to-date scientific knowledge easily accessible to everyone.’
