07-14-2006 - Human World

sagar: Author=’Eleanor Imster’ program=’4940′ video=”DB: This is “Earth & Sky”:/http://208.96.63.114/. Population is growing along the world’s coastlines, even as those areas are becoming more vulnerable and riskier places to live.

JB: Bob Chen manages “NASA’s Socioeconomic Data and Application Center”:http://sedac.ciesin.org/index.html. He told us that new population maps show a trend towards growing population in low-lying coastal areas. Already, at least 10 percent of the world’s population lives at low elevations near a coast, according to a recent study.

DB: Low-lying coastal areas on Earth are more likely to experience the effects of rising sea level, such increased storm intensity and flooding from storm surges. These phenomena are expected to increase as Earth’s climate warms. But despite the hazards, population in coastal and low-lying regions continues to grow. Dr. Chen.

Bob Chen: People like to live along coasts. They tend to conglomerate in some of the traditionally rich, fertile areas.

JB: Looking ahead, says Chen, the question is …

Bob Chen: … whether coastlines are going to be livable places both because of the population increase and unmanaged growth, whether things like climate change and sea level rise are going to affect the viability of those areas over time.

DB: Our thanks today to “NASA”:http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html?skipIntro=1: explore, discover, understand. We’re Block and Byrd for “Earth & Sky”:/http://208.96.63.114/.

Written by EarthSky