The potential impacts of sea level rise along the coastal zone of Kanyakumari District in Tamilnadu, India

Abstract

Climate change associated with sea level rise (SLR) is one of the major environmental concerns of today. This paper presents an assessment of the impacts of sea level rise on the coastal zone of Kanyakumari District in Tamilnadu, India. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) combined with overlay techniques in GIS are used in determining the inundation zones along the coastal region. The analysis evaluated the impact on coastal fishing villages, landuse, tourist spots and sensitive areas under threat. The vulnerability of the coastal areas in Kanyakumari to inundation was quantified, based on the projected sea level rise scenarios of 0.5 and 1 m. Our findings reveal that approximately 13 km 2 of the land area of Kanyakumari would be permanently inundated due to SLR. This would result in loss of land, alteration of the coastal zone and affects coastal ecosystem. From the study, the mitigation measures (engineering measures) and Coastal Zone Management practices that can be taken to protect human life and property from sea level rise are suggested.

Constructing Local Sea Level Rise Scenarios for Assessing Possible Impacts and Adaptation Needs: Insights from Coasts of India

“…Natesan and Parthasarathy observed in their study that about 13 km2 of the land area would be inundated permanently due to SLR in Kanyakumari [17]. Khan et al carried out sea level rise simulation study using SimCLIM for the coasts of Tamil Nadu, South India [18].…”

Geospatial modeling of the impact of sea level rise on coastal communities: application of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

“…Many studies have analyzed the impacts of sea-level rise on the coastal areas at a regional scale. Gravelle and Mimura (2008) examined the impacts of sea level rise and storm surge in Fiji Islands, El-Nahry and Doluschitz 2010analyzed the impacts of climate change on the coastal zone of the Nile Delta, Al-Jeneid et al (2008) examined the impacts of sea level rise in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Natesan and Parthasarathy (2010) analysed the potential impacts of sea level rise along the coastal zone of Kanyakumari District in Tamilnadu, India; Marfai and King (2008) examined the vulnerability implications of coastal inundation due to sea level rise for the coastal zone of Semarang city, Indonesia, and finally Kuleli et al (2009) developed a city based assessment of sea level rise for the Turkish Coastal Zone. Gravelle and Mimura (2008) developed a model which not only presented the impacts of the sea-level rise on the coastal areas but it also represented the areas which would be affected due to storm surges from sea level rise.…”

“…The scenarios were divided into three parts: low (0.5 m) moderate (1 m), and high (1.5 m). Natesan and Parthasarathy (2010) analysed the potential impacts of sea level rise along the coastal zone of Kanyakumari District in Tamilnadu, India. The methodology in the following study was divided into five parts.…”

Geospatial modelling of the inundation levels in the Sundarbans mangrove forests due to the impact of sea level rise and identification of affected species and regions

“…A host of researchers have used GIS and geospatial analysis tools to investigate SLR impacts on the coastal ecosystems in pursuit of developing informed policy in many parts of the world (Gravelle and Mimura 2008;Li et al 2009;Natesan and Parthasarathy 2010;Malik and Abdalla 2016). GIS and geospatial analysis techniques have proven useful for predicting the impact under various scenarios related to SLR.…”