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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 6, NUMBER 5, MAY 1993

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
SEA LEVEL IMPACTS: POLICY, LAW AND SOCIETY

Item #d93may28

"Sea Level Trends and Physical Consequences: Applications to the United States Shore," C.H. Fletcher (Dept. Geol., Univ. Hawaii, Honolulu HI 96822), Earth Sci. Reviews, 33(2), 73-109, Nov. 1992.

This extensive review states projections of sea level rise by various research groups but emphasizes the current lack of understanding of the role of climate, among other influences, in sea level change. Discusses impacts on ecosystems and human structures along coasts, and federal responses to the possibility of sea level change. Federal, state, local and private interests in coastal zones should respond to the threat of sea level rise and coastal erosion with innovative land management policies and practices that encourage the establishment of coastal high-risk zones and conversion of these lands to low-risk use.

Item #d93may29

"Coastal Erosion and Insurance," Nature, 359(6394), 356, Oct. 1, 1992. Two comments on a previous article by B. Culliton.

Item #d93may30

"An Index to Assess South Africa Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise," P. Hughes (Dept. Oceanog., Univ. Cape Town, Rondebosch 7700, S. Africa), G.B. Brundrit, South African J. Sci., 88(6), 308-311, June 1992.

Reviews a proposed coastal vulnerability index designed to assess the impacts of sea level rise on the coastal environment world-wide, and develops a new risk-analysis procedure on a smaller scale using an economic hierarchy.

Item #d93may31

"Responding to Potential Impacts of Climate Change on United States Coastal Biodiversity," W.V. Reid (World Resources Inst., 1709 New York Ave. NW, Washington DC 20006), M.C. Trexler, Coastal Mgmt., 20(2), 117-142, Apr.-June 1992.

Summarizes the extensive impact on biodiversity possible through sea level rise. Concludes that global warming must be slowed, and coastal zone policies established that allow adaptive response to rising seas through shoreward movement of coastal ecosystems as sea level changes.

Item #d93may32

"Sea Level Change: Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts," H.J. Walker (Dept. Geog., Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge LA 70803), GeoJournal, 26(4), 511-520, Apr. 1992.

An overview of the unique situation posed by the possibility of rapid sea level rise over the next century, after several thousand years of roughly stable conditions to which humans have adapted. Although it seems prudent for nations to accelerate planning for a potential rise, it will probably take one or more disasters to trigger a concerted response.

Item #d93may33

"When Law Makes Climate Change Worse: Rethinking the Law of Baselines in Light of a Rising Sea Level," D.D. Caron (School of Law, Univ. California, Berkeley CA 94720), Ecol. Law Quart., 17(4), 621-653, 1990.