Economic Impact of Overtopping and Adaptation Measures in Catalan Ports Due to Sea Level Rise

Joan Pau Sierra

doi:10.3390/w11071440

Abstract

In this paper, the impact of sea level rise (SLR) throughout the 21st century in the overtopping of port breakwaters is analyzed at a regional scale, focusing on the Catalan coast (NW Mediterranean). The study is made considering three scenarios of SLR and two levels of storminess, computing the overtopping discharges in 47 ports to assess those exceeding a tolerable threshold and to roughly estimate the monetary value of the consequences of such discharges. Possible adaptation measures are examined, selecting the most cost-effective and assessing the cost of its implementation for the different scenarios and two damage levels. Results show that, as it could be expected, the number of ports affected by overtopping will increase with SLR, as well as the economic impact. Another remarkable finding of this paper is the significant savings in adaptation measures achieved allowing a minimum level of damage in contrast to the zero-damage option.

Highlights

Climate change has become a major focus of attention for the media and society in general, due to its possible impacts on the environment
The overtopping discharges for each port have been computed at 2000 and every 10 years between 2020 and 2100, taking into account the values of relative sea level rise (RSLR) at each instant. These discharges have been compared with the tolerable ones to detect the ports with excessive overtopping
During the rest of the studied period, the adaptation costs decrease between 55% and 68% for RCP4.5, between 46% and 66% for RCP8.5, and between 37% and 66% for high-end scenario (HES)

Summary

Introduction

Climate change has become a major focus of attention for the media and society in general, due to its possible impacts on the environment. SLR will increase the water depth around and inside the harbor, modifying wave propagation patterns. This could affect processes like wave agitation (oscillations within the port), siltation, or structure stability [21]. The impacts may be either positive or negative, i.e., they can improve or worsen ports’ operability. This represents a potential climatic risk in coastal zones, since seaports play a crucial role in the global economy as transportation hubs, and their contribution to economic activity in the coastal fringe and their hinterland is significant [22]

Objectives

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Conclusion