Sea Level Rise and Its Impacts on Indian Coastal Cultural Heritage: Climate Change Threats to Unique Built and Unbuilt Cultural Heritage

Abstract

Sea level rise (SLR) is a major cause of concern resulting in loss of land area, erosion of existing built systems and a danger to ecological resources. In addition to this it will also pose a great threat to loss of cultural heritages that are linked with the coastal history of many countries, like indigenous and colonial forts, fishing communities and socio-religious built environments and rituals. GMSL (Global Mean Sea Level) is expected to rise by an estimate of 1.2-3 meters over the next 50-80 years and the estimations are rising with new advancements in climate change research. Many cities are already experiencing severe effects of SLR and many others are already preparing their edges for the oncoming threat. Many of these strategies are engineering measures, however, with so many impacts on cultural systems to be expected, one must also integrate many such measures into systems of urban design, in order to affect the behavioural patterns and cultural psyche. There is an immediate need to identify the various vulnerable built and unbuilt cultural spaces and activities, the intensity of impact to these resources and map out measures of mitigation that are derived from human settlement studies.