Current and potential impacts of sea level rise in the coastal areas of Malaysia

Abstract

Sea level rise is one of the most concerning and costly effects of climate change that impacts the sustainable development of coastal areas. Malaysia, representing 13% of the total land area within 5 km of a coast, is threatened by the devastating impacts of sea level rise. This study attempts to highlight the current and potential impacts of sea level rise in several high risk coastal areas of Malaysia. Currently, coastal erosion and coastal flooding are the major effects of sea level rise impacting the important coastal infrastructure. The coast of Selangor and Batu Pahat experienced severe coastal erosion recording the total eroded area of 1878.5 hectares and 415.47 hectares respectively. Likewise, the coastal flooding in Johor coastal flood was damaging an estimated RM 0.35 billion worth of infrastructure and RM 2.4 billion of economic losses. In addition, one meter rise in sea level is expected to cause the loss of 180,000-hectare of agricultural land, 15%-20% of mangrove forests loss along the coastline. Among the selected high risk areas along the coast of Malaysia, Batu Pahat is estimated to experience 100% loss of the development area followed by Port Klang (40.67%), Kedah (38.57%), Kuala Terengganu (4.86%), Kota Kinabalu (4.46%) and Kuching (2.64%). The potential sea level rise will amplify the existing impacts and create new risks for coastal population and development. Thus, proper adaptation measures are necessary in order to reduce the adverse impacts and economic costs of sea level rise in Malaysia.