Coastal Challenges: Adapting to Rising Sea Levels in the U.S.
and Haiti
The United States is a developed country that for some years in the
coastal areas and in the lowlands have begun to suffer from some
environmental problems due to the rise in sea level. Likewise, Haiti, a
country located on the American continent specifically in the Antilles,
has been threatened in the last decades by the more than 3 cm of
increase in sea level due to climate change.
The United States houses more than 40% of its population in coastal
areas and in lowlands, developing different economic activities such as
tourism, agriculture, industries, etc. However, climate change and
accelerated population growth in these areas has intensified the rise in
sea level and therefore they have been threatened by increased
frequency and intensity of floods, erosion and contamination of aquifers
by salt water. Likewise, in Haiti, because it is an island country, most of
its inhabitants live in coastal areas and lowlands with a lower proportion
of people living in mountain areas, for that reason tourism and
agriculture, the main economic activities of the region, are developed in
In the areas of lower elevation, however, the rise in sea level has
considerably affected the nation's livelihoods due to serious problems of
erosion, periodic flooding and contamination of fresh water by salt water.
However, the United States, being a developed country, has applied
different measures to cope with the rise in sea level by installing piers,
relocating aquifers, filling wetlands with sediments, building retaining
walls, and recovering degraded areas by planting mangroves and other
aquatic plants. On the contrary, Haiti is a vulnerable country with a very
difficult economic situation that has not been able to recover from the
2010 earthquake or the destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew in
2016, so it does not have the resources to combat the threats from the
increase in the sea ??level.
References:
and Haiti
The United States is a developed country that for some years in the
coastal areas and in the lowlands have begun to suffer from some
environmental problems due to the rise in sea level. Likewise, Haiti, a
country located on the American continent specifically in the Antilles,
has been threatened in the last decades by the more than 3 cm of
increase in sea level due to climate change.
The United States houses more than 40% of its population in coastal
areas and in lowlands, developing different economic activities such as
tourism, agriculture, industries, etc. However, climate change and
accelerated population growth in these areas has intensified the rise in
sea level and therefore they have been threatened by increased
frequency and intensity of floods, erosion and contamination of aquifers
by salt water. Likewise, in Haiti, because it is an island country, most of
its inhabitants live in coastal areas and lowlands with a lower proportion
of people living in mountain areas, for that reason tourism and
agriculture, the main economic activities of the region, are developed in
In the areas of lower elevation, however, the rise in sea level has
considerably affected the nation's livelihoods due to serious problems of
erosion, periodic flooding and contamination of fresh water by salt water.
However, the United States, being a developed country, has applied
different measures to cope with the rise in sea level by installing piers,
relocating aquifers, filling wetlands with sediments, building retaining
walls, and recovering degraded areas by planting mangroves and other
aquatic plants. On the contrary, Haiti is a vulnerable country with a very
difficult economic situation that has not been able to recover from the
2010 earthquake or the destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew in
2016, so it does not have the resources to combat the threats from the
increase in the sea ??level.
References:
