Potential impact of sea level rise on the geomorphology of Kuwait state coastline
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Potential impact of sea level rise on the geomorphology of Kuwait state coastline Ahmed Hassan 1
&
Mahmoud A. Hassaan 2
Received: 15 July 2020 / Accepted: 2 October 2020 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2020
Abstract Sea level rise (SLR) is one of the most severe risks threatening coastal zones all over the world. In Kuwait, coastal areas accommodate about 90% of the total population and most of the urban area. Thus, SLR is expected to have significant impacts on Kuwaiti coastal areas, which may lead to changes in their ecosystems and the geomorphological units in the coastal area. This paper aims to assess the impacts of SLR on the geomorphology of the Kuwaiti coastline under two different scenarios of SLR: an integrated analysis model involving a variety of methods and a composite vulnerability index integrating five criteria. The results revealed that about 58% of the total coastal area is susceptible to inundation under 1- and 2-m SLR scenario, whereas 8.3% of Kuwaiti coastal areas have moderate to high vulnerability levels. Moreover, it was found that SLR may have significant implications for some Kuwaiti coastal areas including expanding sabkhas areas, shoreline retreat, changing coastal hydrodynamics, and erosion patterns and accelerated weathering process. To avoid such potential impacts, it is essential to develop a national strategy for adaptation to SLR impact and mainstreaming adaptation into development plans. Keywords Sea level rise (SLR) . Coastal Geomorphology . Climate Changes . GIS . RS
Introduction Coastal zones are of great importance for economic and welfare of human communities accommodating a large portion of world population and valuable assets such as ports, cities, heritage monuments, tourist locations, and infrastructures (Dhanalakshmi et al. 2019). For example, it was estimated that more than 600 million of the world’s population live in areas less than 10 m above mean sea-level, (Janin and Scott 2012) and two-thirds of the world’s cities with populations over 5 million are found in coastal areas. Coastal zones are dynamic ecosystems with a complex range of interrelated natural and anthropogenic processes. Responsible Editor: Stefan Grab * Ahmed Hassan [email protected] Mahmoud A. Hassaan [email protected] 1
Ministry of Education, Kuwait, Kuwait
2
Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
Generally, global warming leads to global sea level rise (SLR) because of two main mechanisms: thermal expansion of ocean water and the melting of ice sheets at the poles (Neelamani and Al-Shatti 2014). These two mechanisms have led to a noticeable rise in global sea level during the last two decades. In this respect, it was estimated that global sea is expected to rise 25 cm during the period 1980–2020 (Fig. 1). One of the most significant challenges that threaten coastal environments across the world is SLR that is expected to inundate wide areas of lowlying coastal areas all over the world (Alsahli and AlHasem 2016). For instan
