Abstract
Expansive areas of low elevation in many densely populated coastal areas are at elevated risk of storm surges and flooding due to torrential precipitation, as a result of sea level rise. These phenomena could have catastrophic impacts on coastal communities and result in the destruction of critical infrastructure, disruption of economic activities and salt water contamination of the water supply. The objective of the study presented in this paper was to identify various impacts of sea level rise on civil infrastructures in coastal areas and examine the adaptation measures suggested in the existing literature. To this end, a systemic review of the existing literature was conducted in order to identify a repository of studies addressing sea level rise impacts and adaptation measures in the context of infrastructure systems. The study focused on three infrastructure sectors: water and wastewater, energy, and road transportation. The collected information was then analyzed in order to identify different categories of sea level rise impacts and corresponding adaptation measures. The findings of the study are threefold: (1) the major categories of sea level rise impacts on different infrastructure systems; (2) measures for protection, accommodation, and retreat in response to sea level rise impacts; and (3) challenges related to implementing adaptation measures.
Highlights
Climate change is one of the major challenges of the 21st century
47 articles and reports were compiled for further evaluation. These articles and reports were reviewed and coded to extract, synthesize, and analyze information related to sea level rise (SLR) impacts, adaptation measures, and implementation challenges related to water, wastewater, energy, and transportation infrastructure systems
This study presented various impacts of sea level rise on infrastructure systems in coastal areas and discussed adaptation measures to mitigate the adverse impacts of sea level rise based on a systemic review of the existing literature
Summary
Climate change is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. Sea-level rise is one of the most concerning and costly effects of climate change. Low-lying coastal areas are susceptible to storm surge and flooding from torrential precipitation, and the effects on communities can be catastrophic. In the future, such effects will be intensified by rising sea levels [3,4]. Resulting hazard event impacts may include failures or destruction of critical infrastructure, immobilization due to transportation system breakdown, blackouts due to power grid failures, and catastrophic saltwater contamination of water supplies. These failures in infrastructure systems may lead to prolonged disruption of economic activities and livelihoods in coastal communities. With the aging of infrastructure systems and projected population growth in coastal urban areas [10], there is an urgent need to investigate adaptation pathways to mitigate the public safety and economic impacts of sea-level rise
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