Drowning in the rising tide

Governing Sea-Level Rise what challenges for the international regime? Source: youmatter   Framing the issue: is sea level rising? The climate is changing, and this change is having – and will continue to have – enormous impacts that can undermine the life on Earth as we know it today. Among such impacts, rising sea level is worth special attention, as it will probably represent a threat to human settlements and the built environment. Effects of sea-level rise include land erosion, wetland flooding, more dangerous hurricanes and typhoons, storm surges, and soil contamination with salt that can damage agricultural production. Moreover, rising seas can represent a threat also to the safety of the people living near the coastal line. To give a sense of the danger, the National Ocean Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) of the United States has estimated that in 2014, in the country, almost 40% of the population lived in coastal areas, despite this latt