Question

Role of climate change in sea level rise and agriculture

Answer 1

Climate change due to anthropogenic forcing through escalating greenhouse gas emissions and destruction of carbon sinks by deforestation is leading to floods and droughts affecting agriculture production. Global warming induces steric as well as eustatic rise in sea-level, by thermal expansion and addition of ice-melt water, respectively. Although the IPCC (2007) estimated a maximum possible sea-level rise of about 59 cm, more recent estimates show a global average rise of ≥1 m by the 2100 AD. The low-lying coastal zones are more vulnerable to rising sea levels as they face submergence or saltwater intrusion which affects the agriculture activities. Geomatics-based models on the possible impact of the predicted sea-level rise on coastal agriculture