Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change
Open Access

Abstract

Coastal cities are vulnerable to the increasing flood risks caused by combination of sea level rise and storm tide due to low-lying topography and density distributed assets. Facing this challenge, comprehensive and integrated flood risk information is vital and fundamental for designing adaptation strategies, as well as for the planning, implementation and optimization of coastal risk management. In the present study, a wide range of indicators across ecological, physical and socioeconomic dimensions are employed to develop an integrated assessment approach to sea level rise and storm tide induced flood risks on coastal urban system. To demonstrate its applicability, a case study of Xiamen City, China is performed. Results show that the integrated approach is applicable and robust not only for assessment of inundated land and population, but also for assessment of both direct flood losses on ecological, physical system and the consequent indirect economic impacts. Floods under extreme sea level scenarios will cause coastal urban system substantial risks, in which physical and economic risks are dominant. Although ecological risk is relatively small, adequate weight in decision-making needs to be given owing to the significance of ecosystem on coastal protection. Our study emphasize on the integrated management of coastal flood risks based on multi-dimension risk assessments.

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