Scientometric review of climate-change extreme impacts on coastal cities

Abstract

The generalised sea level and temperature rise, along with the increasing frequency and intensity of storms and temperature extremes, trigger a variety of climate-change-related impacts on coastal communities, such as coastal flooding and erosion, pluvial and river flooding, heat waves, cold spells, droughts, and landslides. These events can rapidly cascade into additional challenges and have a profound impact on the coastal zone. Many studies have focused on the causes and consequences of climate change for coastal cities in the past decades. As a result, the number of forecasts, risk assessments, literature reviews, and methodologies has increased. This comprehensive review comprises the key findings of a systematic analysis of the scientific literature on extreme impacts of climate change on coastal cities. After a bibliometric analysis, which yields 2321 papers in 470 journals from 1976 to 2021, a scientometric analysis is carried out. There is wide geographical diversity, with publications from 97 countries. In terms of numbers and nationalities, the USA was followed by China, UK, Australia, and Indonesia. The scarcity of papers from developing countries is apparent. “Storm” and “risk assessment” are the top keywords regarding frequency of occurrence and relationships with other keywords. The main research areas for this topic are risk assessment, climate-change-related hazards and their drivers, modelling tools, disaster control and prevention measures, climate change policies and urban planning. Finally, research gaps are identified, and future research directions proposed, e.g., emerging integrated coastal zone management tools and the impacts on climate change on developing countries.