in Developing Countries
Resource information
An increase in sea surface temperature
is evident at all latitudes and in all oceans. The current
understanding is that ocean warming plays a major role in
intensified cyclone activity and heightened storm surges.
The vulnerability of coastlines to intensified storm surges
can be ascertained by overlaying Geographic Information
System information with data on land, population density,
agriculture, urban extent, major cities, wetlands, and gross
domestic product for inundation zones likely to experience
more intense storms and a 1 meter sea-level rise. The
results show severe impacts are likely to be limited to a
relatively small number of countries and a cluster of large
cities at the low end of the international income distribution.
