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Global LiDAR land elevation data reveal greatest sea-level rise vulnerability in the tropics

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  • A. Hooijer

    (Deltares, Inland Water Systems Unit
    National University of Singapore)

  • R. Vernimmen

    (Data for Sustainability)

Abstract

Coastal flood risk assessments require accurate land elevation data. Those to date existed only for limited parts of the world, which has resulted in high uncertainty in projections of land area at risk of sea-level rise (SLR). Here we have applied the first global elevation model derived from satellite LiDAR data. We find that of the worldwide land area less than 2 m above mean sea level, that is most vulnerable to SLR, 649,000 km2 or 62% is in the tropics. Even assuming a low-end relative SLR of 1 m by 2100 and a stable lowland population number and distribution, the 2020 population of 267 million on such land would increase to at least 410 million of which 72% in the tropics and 59% in tropical Asia alone. We conclude that the burden of current coastal flood risk and future SLR falls disproportionally on tropical regions, especially in Asia.

Suggested Citation

  • A. Hooijer & R. Vernimmen, 2021. "Global LiDAR land elevation data reveal greatest sea-level rise vulnerability in the tropics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-23810-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23810-9
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    Cited by:

    1. Selasi YAO AVORNYO & Kwasi APPEANING ADDO & Pietro TEATINI & Philip S.J. MINDERHOUD & Marie-Noëlle WOILLEZ, 2023. "Vulnerability of Ghana’s Coast to Relative Sea-level Rise: A Scoping Review," Working Paper c0e9d81f-7c77-47ca-ba56-a, Agence française de développement.
    2. Marie-Noëlle WOILLEZ & Femi Emmanuel IKUEMONISAN & Vitalis Chidi OZEBO & Philip S.J. MINDERHOUD & Pietro TEATINI, 2023. "A scoping review of the vulnerability of Nigeria's coastland to sea-level rise and the contribution of land subsidence," Working Paper af68695f-dcee-4c1e-9daf-6, Agence française de développement.
    3. Stephen Keen & Timothy M. Lenton & Antoine Godin & Devrim Yilmaz & Matheus Grasselli & Timothy J. Garrett, 2021. "Economists' erroneous estimates of damages from climate change," Papers 2108.07847, arXiv.org.
    4. Mathew E. Hauer & Dean Hardy & Scott A. Kulp & Valerie Mueller & David J. Wrathall & Peter U. Clark, 2021. "Assessing population exposure to coastal flooding due to sea level rise," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Leon HAUSER & Roberta BONI & Philip S.J. MINDERHOUD & Pietro TEATINI & Marie-Noëlle WOILLEZ & Rafael ALMAR & Selasi Yao AVORNYO & Kwasi APPEANING ADDO, 2023. "A scoping study on coastal vulnerability to relative sealevel rise in the Gulf of Guinea," Working Paper da6cc701-670f-4e44-bf9c-c, Agence française de développement.
    6. Lena Reimann & Bryan Jones & Nora Bieker & Claudia Wolff & Jeroen C.J.H. Aerts & Athanasios T. Vafeidis, 2023. "Exploring spatial feedbacks between adaptation policies and internal migration patterns due to sea-level rise," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Timothy M. Lenton & Chi Xu & Jesse F. Abrams & Ashish Ghadiali & Sina Loriani & Boris Sakschewski & Caroline Zimm & Kristie L. Ebi & Robert R. Dunn & Jens-Christian Svenning & Marten Scheffer, 2023. "Quantifying the human cost of global warming," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(10), pages 1237-1247, October.

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