Publication Details

Desktop Study for Inundation of Kedah Estuary - Impact of sea Level Rise due to Climate Change

Sea level rise (SLR) due to climate change impact can cause inundation to low-lying coastal areas and estuaries, damage existing coastal infrastructures, change the marine ecology and habitats, and affect the livelihood and socio-economy of the local communities which will eventually give impact to the government if no adaptation and mitigation plans were made to counter them. A desktop study was carried out on Kedah Estuary, with an area of 70 km2 to produce a Sea Level Rise Potential Inundation Map and assess the impact of this phenomena. Results show that an increase of 0.5 m sea level rise will affect 8.79% of the total 28.77 km2 development area, damage 19.61% of the total 47.84 km2 of paddy fields and about 18.18% of the total 22,000 population living in the study area, while an increase of 1.0 m SLR will affect 24.54% of development area, 35.08% of paddy fields and about 54.55% of the population. An increased of 1 m SLR will also damage the whole of 0.6 hectares of mangrove area that exists in Kedah Estuary. Production of Sea Level Rise Potential Inundation Map could assist related agencies such as DID, TPD and PWD etc. in planning their physical and infrastructure plans, avoiding these potential inundated areas to reduce property damage in coastal areas and estuaries.