Civil & Structural Department

Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment

The National University of Malaysia

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KKKH 4284

SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT

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GLOBAL WARMING

Reduce & Mitigate Sea Level Rise in Coastal City

NAME : SITI NURLIYANA BINTI ABDUL HASIF

MATRIC NO. : A132529

LECTURER : PROF. IR. DR. RIZA ATIQ ABDULLAH BIN O.K. RAHMAT

1.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Supposed you are living in a coastal city. The city administrator has noticed that the mean

sea level has been rising for the past 50 years. The raising is small but over a long period of

time it may cause problems in the city centre as the level of that part of the city is quite low.

If you are hired as a consultant, write a plan of action on what can be done to reduce or

mitigate the problems.

2.0 INTRODUCTION

To put it in laymen’s term, global warming is the rising of temperature of the planet. The

effects that the seemingly simple phenomenon places upon the livelihood of human are grim

and will affect the environment in more ways than just temperature change. The effects

include:

- The growing number of wildfire cases.

- Increasingly common heat waves.

- Extreme storm events.

- More severe droughts.

- An acceleration in sea level rise

An increase in sea level affects the coastal areas in particular. The main concern for coastal

areas regarding sea level rise are the destruction of public and personal properties as well as

the long term effects it will induce upon the environment. For example, in the United States

the Tropical Storm Debby brought record rainfall and extreme flooding to Florida in the first

half of 2012, killing at least seven people, destroying more than 100 homes and causing tens

of millions of dollars in damage to beaches, businesses and homes.

Between more intense rainstorms and sea level rise, flooding will only increase if the climate

change is not addressed. Most of the developed nations are taking steps to address climate

change-related water issues, but many more have yet to begin. There are solutions to address

flooding and sea level rise. For starters, the lawmakers need to quit ignoring climate change

and start limiting carbon pollution that is heating the planet and increasing the intensity of

extreme weather.

3.0 CAUSES

In order to propose a plan of action for the problem at and, firstly the causes need to be

addressed and assessed to get to the root of the crisis.

Basically human activities and a surplus in developments accumulated are overloading the

atmosphere with carbon dioxide, which traps heat and steadily drives up the planet’s

temperature. The majority of this overabundance in carbon comes from; the fossil fuels

burnt for energy — coal, natural gas, and oil —; plus the loss of forests due to deforestation,

especially in the tropics.

CO2 survives in the atmosphere for a long time—up to many centuries—so its heat-trapping

effects are compounded over time. Of the many heat-trapping gases, CO2 puts the

environment at the greatest risk of irreversible changes if it continues to accumulate unabated

in the atmosphere—as it is likely to do if the global economy remains dependent on fossil

fuels for its energy needs. To put this in perspective, the carbon put in the atmosphere today

will literally determine not only the climate future but that of future generations as well.

Over the last century, global average temperature has increased by more than 1°F (0.7°C).

The 2001-2010 decade is the warmest since 1880—the earliest year for which comprehensive

global temperature records were available. In fact, nine of the warmest years on record have

occurred in just the last 10 years. This warming has been accompanied by a decrease in very

cold days and nights and an increase in extremely hot days and warm nights. The continental

United States, for example, has seen record daily highs twice as often as record daily lows

from 2000 to 2009. While the record shows that some parts of the world are warming faster

than others, the long-term global upward trend is unambiguous.

4.0 EFFECTS

a) Ecosystems

The ecosystem for coastal area serve as habitat for many species. Apart from that upland

areas are vulnerable to erosion and subtidal ecosystems are threatened by erosion of

upland areas when it results in degraded water quality.

b) Stormwater management

In scenarios where the sea level has risen, the storm sewers are highly vulnerable to

flooding and inundation which would result in localised flooding in low-lying inland

areas.

c) Wastewater

Sanitary sewers in low-lying locations will be vulnerable to floodwater inflow which

could exceed their capacity thus potentially resulting in discharge of wastewater directly

to the sea.

d) Energy facilities

Electricity transmission facilities above-ground will become susceptible to erosion which

could undermine infrastructure causing power outages and various other safety issues.

e) Local transportation facilities

Roads and other facilities could be vulnerable to flooding and inundation due to saturated

soils and impacts on road substructure and pavement degradation.

f) Parks, recreations and public access

Shoreline/coastal parks and recreational facilities are extremely exposed to regular

inundation due to extensive exposure to flooding impacts.

g) Population

Many living classes such as low-income residents, the homeless, elderly and local

community will face housing and placement impact threats.

5.0 MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION MEASURES

There are numerous debates on whether which approach is better in terms of effectiveness

and long-term sustainability. While mitigation tackles the causes of climate change,

adaptation tackles the effects of the phenomenon. Mitigation refers to constant regulation that

includes, first and foremost, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and increase sinks,

minimising climate change including sea level rise via climate policy. Whereas adaptation

reduces the impacts of sea level rise via behavioural changes, by reducing the vulnerability t

avoid or cushion the impacts of climate change and enable people to respond to climate risks

by moving toward a climate-resilient society.

To counter the rising of mean sea level, both approaches need to be implemented at the same

time to ensure that the system is effective.

a. Mitigation

To further simplify the actions that need to be taken, the mitigating efforts are broken

down into different sectors namely energy, transport, industry and waste management.

All of the sectors will ultimately strive towards prioritising low-carbon development

through conservation and sustainable management of resources.

i. Energy

Energy demand (particularly electricity demand) will always be on the rise

especially with increased developments to cater to the masses’ needs. To monitor

the energy consumption to demand ratio, alternatives to fuels consumption could

be executed locally such as solar energy and wind energy. Since the town is

located on a coastal area, offshore wind power can be generated by installing

wind turbines to harvest wind energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. Offshore

wind power refers to constructing wind farms in bodies of water to generate

electricity from wind as better wind speeds are available offshore compared to

inland.

ii. Transport

Providing an accommodating public transportation system is an important step in

maintaining a low-carbon emission as the vehicle population can be lowered.

There are several low carbon development options that has been analysed and

tested world-wide and the option with the greatest potential for the site is the

development of an extensive mass transit system throughout the entirety of the

coastal city. By introducing a large-scale system like the bus rapid transit, apart

from improving the local air quality and improved road safety, traffic congestion

will also be reduced significantly.

iii. Industrial Emissions

For the industrial sector (should the coastal city have an allocated industrial area),

the emissions need to be monitored as climate changes are hugely affected by

harmful emissions such as greenhouse gases. This can be done either by switching

the systems used to low carbon energy sources and to adhere to the Best

Management Practice approach.

iv. Waste

The generated waste from the city can be utilised as an energy source by

transferring the wastes to sanitary landfills and other refuse derived fuel facilities.

This in turn will reduce the harmful emissions as well as providing efficient and

secure energy.

b. Adaptation

i. Create a staff‐level regional sea level rise (SLR) adaptation working group

consisting of representatives from public agencies around San Diego Bay to

implement the Adaptation Strategy.

ii. Provide regular opportunities for stakeholder engagement around implementation

of the Adaptation Strategy.

iii. Create and enhance existing outreach, education, training, and peer exchange

programs tailored to public agency staff, stakeholders, and the general public.

iv. Establish and promote a regional research agenda to advance understanding of sea

level rise impacts, vulnerabilities, and adaptation responses in the San Diego

region.

v. Engage regulatory agencies to advocate for clear and consistent regulatory

guidance on how to address sea level rise impacts in development permitting.

vi. Engage the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to encourage the

incorporation of future risks from sea level rise into non‐regulatory maps

associated with upcoming Flood Insurance Studies (FIS).

vii. Institutionalize or mainstream sea level rise adaptation by incorporating sea level

rise and associated impacts into relevant local and regional plans and projects.

viii. Consistently utilize guidance provided by the State of California Climate Action

Team in developing sea level rise assumptions for planning purposes.

ix. Perform more detailed vulnerability assessments at a site‐specific level as

significant plans or capital projects are undertaken.

x. Develop decision‐making frameworks in each jurisdiction for selecting and

implementing appropriate management practices in communities vulnerable to

inundation or regular flooding, utilizing such frameworks as risk management and

cost/benefit analysis.