A Snapshot of Future Sea Levels

Permanent Link:: http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI15061849/00001

Material Information

Title:: A Snapshot of Future Sea Levels Photographing the King Tide
Creator:: Department of Environment Climate Change and Water New South Wales
Publisher:: Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water New South Wales
Publication Date:: 2009-01-12
Language:: English

Subjects / Keywords:: Climate change ( lcsh )
Coastal management ( lcsh )
Tidal waters ( lcsh )
Sea level rise ( lcsh )

Summary:: The summer king tide event forecast for 12 January was the largest predicted tide for 2009 that would be visible during daylight hours. This presented a wonderful opportunity to engage the community in photographing the peak of the king tide along the whole NSW coastline, with two primary objectives in mind: • identifying areas vulnerable to tidal inundation, capturing the tide level against revetments, seawalls, jetties and other marine infrastructure; and • raising awareness throughout the wider community about the current projections for sea level rise to the end of the century (approximately 90 cm). This photographic event proved successful in engaging over 250 people to capture over 4,000 images providing a broad, state-wide snapshot of areas and assets currently vulnerable to the threat of tidal inundation. The strongest message for the community is that all tide levels reached could well be 90 cm deeper by the end of the century. Alternatively, rare (‘king’) tide water levels in 2009 are likely to be relatively common water levels by 2100. This report presents a selection of the photographs taken around the peak of the king tide on 12 January 2009, and some images from the very high spring tide that occurred in December 2008. It presents a summary of the information gleaned from the photographic event, along with general technical information about tides and the current status of information on climate change and rising sea levels. ( English )

Source Institution:: Florida International University
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