Coastal flooding by tropical cyclones and sea-level rise

Abstract

The future impacts of climate change on landfalling tropical cyclones are unclear. Regardless of this uncertainty, flooding by tropical cyclones will increase as a result of accelerated sea-level rise. Under similar rates of rapid sea-level rise during the early Holocene epoch most low-lying sedimentary coastlines were generally much less resilient to storm impacts. Society must learn to live with a rapidly evolving shoreline that is increasingly prone to flooding from tropical cyclones. These impacts can be mitigated partly with adaptive strategies, which include careful stewardship of sediments and reductions in human-induced land subsidence.

Response of a fringing reef coastline to the direct impact of a tropical cyclone

“…The coastal impacts of tropical cyclones (TCs), namely erosion, flooding, and habitat destruction, have been well documented globally (Castillo et al 2012;Woodruff et al 2013). Existing studies of TC impacts on coral reef-fringed coastlines have primarily focused on the impact to the coral communities (Harmelin-Vivien 1994), the hydrodynamic *Correspondence: michael.cuttler@uwa.edu.au Author Contribution Statement: MVWC collected and analyzed the field data, developed and analyzed the numerical model, and wrote the manuscript.…”

“…The results indicate that this erosion was due to locally generated wind waves within the lagoon rather than the offshore waves that were dissipated on the reef crest. A comparison of these volume changes to observations of tropical cyclone impacts along exposed sandy beaches quantitatively demonstrates the substantial coastal protection reefs can provide against extreme storms.The coastal impacts of tropical cyclones (TCs), namely erosion, flooding, and habitat destruction, have been well documented globally (Castillo et al 2012;Woodruff et al 2013). Existing studies of TC impacts on coral reef-fringed coastlines have primarily focused on the impact to the coral communities (Harmelin-Vivien 1994), the hydrodynamic *Correspondence: michael.cuttler@uwa.edu.au Author Contribution Statement: MVWC collected and analyzed the field data, developed and analyzed the numerical model, and wrote the manuscript.…”

Environmental Predictors of Seabird Wrecks in a Tropical Coastal Area

“…Reduced foraging success may lead these organisms to starvation and may, subsequently, increase the risk of mortality [89]. As a consequence of climate change, tropical storms are becoming more frequent and intense [87, 90, 91]. These events may increase seabird mortality in the future, with negative consequences for species with declining populations.…”

Tropical Cyclone Storm Surge Risk

“…To understand the magnitude of impact of cyclone intensification on the surge hazard, we consider the simple model of Knutson and Tuleya [46], where tropical cyclone wind intensity increases by approximately 4 % for every 1°C increase in sea-surface temperature, and the momentum conservation argument for surge generation, where surge at a given location is proportional to wind speed squared. It thus follows that surge will increase on the order of 8 % for every 1°C of sea-surface temperature warming [89]. This means that areas more susceptible to significant wind surge generation, namely those areas that are low-lying and are exposed to intense storms, will exhibit a relatively larger increase in surge hazard.…”