The Impact of Climate Change on Ocean and Coastal Areas

A special issue of Climate (ISSN 2225-1154).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2022) | Viewed by 15011

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Environmental, Land, Building Engineering and Chemistry (DICATECh), Polytechnic University of Bari, Via E. Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
Interests: coastal risk; coastline detection; earth observation; coastal management; wave modelling; ocean remote sensing

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Environmental, Land, Building Engineering and Chemistry (DICATECh), Polytechnic University of Bari, Via E. Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
Interests: ocean remote sensing; coastline extraction; earth observation; coastal management; coastal physical models; coastal video monitoring

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the opening of the call for papers for a Special Issue of Climate (ISSN: 2225-1154; https://www.mdpi.com/journal/climate) entitled “The Impact of Climate Change on Ocean and Coastal Areas”.

Ocean and coastal areas are among the most complex and fragile environments and climate change is already having a significant impact. Global warming is changing global and regional climate patterns and coastal areas are already experiencing its effects such as sea level rise and exacerbation of meteorological events. Coastal erosion and inundation issues are affecting ever-larger areas with impacts on both the economic and ecological system. Hence, long-term sustainable solutions are needed and in-depth studies about marine and coastal effects are an essential step for planning effective interventions.

This Special Issue aims to promote a discussion on climate change effects on coastal areas and the related challenges.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

- Direct and indirect effects of climate change;

- Wind and wave climate change;

- Impacts of climate change on coastal eco-hydrological systems;

- Ocean currents and climate change;

- In-situ surveys and earth observation;

- Management and assessment of coastal risk caused by climate change;

- Sea level rise and coastal inundation;

- Sustainable management of coastal areas;

- Stakeholder perception of climate change effects.

Dr. Maria Francesca Bruno
Dr. Matteo Gianluca Molfetta
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Coastal risk
  • Coastal management
  • Sea level rise
  • Storm surge
  • Global warming
  • Climate change
  • Physical models
  • Hydrological and hydraulic models
  • Coastal protection

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 6225 KiB  
Article
Coastal Flood Risks and the Business Community: Stakeholders’ Perception in Malta
by Daniel Spiteri and Ritienne Gauci
Climate 2022, 10(9), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10090132 - 2 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4230
Abstract
Resilience of coastal communities is increasingly required to adjust to the effects of climate change and its coast-related threats. Climate change is a major global threat to the environment, economy, and health of urban coastal lowlands. Flooding risks from both rising sea levels [...] Read more.
Resilience of coastal communities is increasingly required to adjust to the effects of climate change and its coast-related threats. Climate change is a major global threat to the environment, economy, and health of urban coastal lowlands. Flooding risks from both rising sea levels and increases in the frequency and severity of storm surges are considered to be amongst the most threatening consequences associated with climate change. The aim of this study was to assess the levels of socio-economic preparedness of low-lying urbanized towns in Malta for the impacts of coastal flooding through the triangulation of stakeholders’ participation from three sectors: the business community, local councils, and specialized experts from the governmental and private sectors. The study also included field collection of elevation data for each locality to capture the businesses’ distribution in relation to their height above sea level along the urban waterfront. One-way analysis of variance and NVivo were used to test and compare the business owners’ responses and the experts’ feedback, respectively. The main findings from the business community suggest that there are no long-term contingency plans or strategies in place to address potential flooding impacts from rising sea levels and storm surges, and that the risks of driving owners out of business is high. From the feedback received by the local councils, it was observed that all of them significantly lack the physical and financial resources to effectively manage long-term coastal flooding within their locality, forcing them to completely rely on central government for any future needs caused by the impact of coastal flooding. From a central government perspective, it seems that all interviewed experts operate within a fragmented governance model, and mainly adhere to the set of responsibilities aligned with their respective roles within such a governance model. This evidence of governance disconnect requires more horizontal and vertical integration of cross-sectoral strategies to address coastal flooding, within the broader framework of integrated coastal zone management as established by the Mediterranean ICZM protocol. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Climate Change on Ocean and Coastal Areas)
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16 pages, 2650 KiB  
Article
The Benefit of Continuous Hydrological Modelling for Drought Hazard Assessment in Small and Coastal Ungauged Basins: A Case Study in Southern Italy
by Davide Luciano De Luca, Ciro Apollonio and Andrea Petroselli
Climate 2022, 10(3), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10030034 - 3 Mar 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3424
Abstract
Rainfall-runoff modelling in small and ungauged basins represents one of the most common practices in hydrology. However, it remains a challenging task for researchers and practitioners, in particular in a climate change context and in areas subject to drought risk. When discharge observations [...] Read more.
Rainfall-runoff modelling in small and ungauged basins represents one of the most common practices in hydrology. However, it remains a challenging task for researchers and practitioners, in particular in a climate change context and in areas subject to drought risk. When discharge observations are not available, empirical or event-based approaches are commonly used. However, these schemes can be affected by several relevant assumptions. In the last years, continuous models have been developed in order to address the major drawbacks of event-based approaches. With this goal in mind, in this work we applied a synthetic rainfall generation model (STORAGE; stochastic rainfall generator), constituting the implementation of a modified version of Neymann-Scott rectangular pulse (NSRP) model, and a continuous rainfall-runoff framework (COSMO4SUB; continuous simulation modelling for small and ungauged basins) specifically designed for ungauged basins within a climate change context. The modeling approach allows one to investigate the drought hazard using specific indicators for rainfall and runoff in a small watershed located in southern Italy. Results show that the investigated area seems to tend to a mild/moderate drought in a future time period of approximately 30 years, with a decrease in seasonal water volumes availability in the range of 15–30%. Finally, our results confirm that the continuous modelling is suitable for rapid and effective design simulations supporting drought hazard assessment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Climate Change on Ocean and Coastal Areas)
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29 pages, 94515 KiB  
Article
Climatic Analysis of Wind Patterns to Enhance Sailors’ Performance during Races
by Pietro Masino, Roberto Bellasio, Roberto Bianconi, Angelo Besana and Alessandro Pezzoli
Climate 2021, 9(5), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli9050080 - 13 May 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4855
Abstract
The impact of environmental and meteorological conditions when dealing with sport performance has been demonstrated by several studies carried out in recent years. Among the meteorological variables with the greatest effect are temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind direction and speed. This research focused [...] Read more.
The impact of environmental and meteorological conditions when dealing with sport performance has been demonstrated by several studies carried out in recent years. Among the meteorological variables with the greatest effect are temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind direction and speed. This research focused on analyzing and forecasting the wind patterns occurring in Enoshima Bay (Japan). In particular, the objective of this study was to provide support and guidance to sailors in the preparation of the race strategy, thanks to an in-depth knowledge of these meteorological variables. To do this, an innovative method was used. First, through the combined use of Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and CALMET models, a simulation was performed, in order to reconstruct an offshore database of a recent 10-year period (2009–2018) over the race area, inside the bay. Subsequently, the verification of hind-cast was performed: the wind data measured at sea were compared with the data extracted from the CALMET database to verify the validity of the model. The verification was performed through three statistical indexes: BIAS, MAE, and PCC. The analysis showed mixed results, depending on the examined pattern, but made it possible to identify the days that best simulated the reality. Then, the wind data from the selected days were summarized and collected in plots, tables, and maps to design a decision support service (DSS), in order to provide athletes with the necessary information in a simple and effective way. In conclusion, we state that the application of this method extends beyond the sports field. Indeed, the study of wind patterns may be necessary in the design of actions to contrast and adapt to climate change, particularly in coastal areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Climate Change on Ocean and Coastal Areas)
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