Coastal Hazards

 India's Coastal Hazards


India has a very long coastline, and it measures about 7,516.6 km bordering the mainland and the islands with the Bay of Bengal in the East, the Indian Ocean on the South and the Arabian Sea on the West. Around 76 percent of India's coastline is prone to cyclones and tsunamis, while 59 percent of the country is vulnerable to earthquakes, 10 percent to floods and river erosion, and 68 percent to droughts. The latest evidence of this vulnerability occurred in May 2020, as the strongest storm recorded in decades in the Bay of Bengal cyclone Amphan hit, forcing several million people to evacuate. India’s more than 7,500 square kilometers of coastline are at high risk for impacts of climate change related to sea-level rise. Sea levels along the Indian coast have risen by 8.5 centimeters during the past 50 years, and scientific prediction suggests that 36 million Indians are likely to be living in areas experiencing chronic flooding by 2100. Some research, conducted by ISRO's Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, on comprehensive data available between 2004-06 and 2014-16, shows that 15 % of India's coastline amounting to nearly 1,144 km is undergoing erosion. West Bengal is the worst hit with over 60 per cent of its shoreline under erosion. The reasons for coastal erosion include increase in frequency of cyclones and sea level rise and anthropogenic activities such as construction of harbor's, beach mining and building of dams.









Comments

  1. Ana GGApril 29, 2023 at 1:28 PM

    Very interesting research. What are their mitigation efforts for this hazard? What are your sources of information?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Selene HernandezApril 30, 2023 at 4:59 PM

    Hi Angie! I found it very interesting that sea levels along the Indian coast have risen by 8.5 centimeters over the past 50 years and that this will only result in more flooding risk in the future! Overall enjoyed your post, thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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