Coastal communities worldwide are grappling with the widespread effects of a warming climate and rising sea levels, witnessing the devastation of their homes and increased economic difficulties.
Severe flooding in Bangladesh. DFID/Rafiqur Rahman Raqu. CC By-NC 2.0.
Climate change is becoming an increasingly tangible issue for global citizens in the modern age. However, coastal communities have become some of the first to bear the devastating impacts and lasting challenges of global warming. Left vulnerable to rising sea levels, flooding from severe storms and other weather events, inhabitants of densely populated coastal regions must consider the potential costs and dangers associated with climate vulnerabilities.
In Florida and the southeastern United States, the National Climate Assessment observed that due to rising sea level temperatures, the frequency and intensity of hurricanes in the region are only expected to increase in the future. This has created long-term problems beyond the initial matter of physical damage inflicted by the storms. State legislation only narrowly saved Florida’s home insurance market from collapse after insurance companies began to back out due to the high costs associated with coastal hurricane damage and flooding. There are still insurance companies that cover varying aspects of hurricane damage, such as wind or flooding in certain cases, but these carriers have increased prices as larger companies stop covering hurricane costs and as the damages increase in severity. In 2022, Hurricane Ian inflicted roughly $113 billion in damages. These expenses, coupled with a lack of options following the exodus of major insurance companies, can place stress on residents as they experience increased insurance premiums and increasingly limited options for coverage, forcing them to either relocate to areas with a more affordable cost of living or funnel their money towards insurance costs. Other wider economic concerns tied to climate change include, again, the physical damage to businesses. Developers have begun backing out in fear of incurring greater cost than profit in particularly susceptible regions, such as Miami and the Gulf Coast.
On a global scale, the U.N. reported that countries laying at or below sea level are at high risk of “catastrophic flooding,” including densely populated areas in China, India, Bangladesh, the Netherlands and Pakistan. Bangladesh has already experienced particularly horrific flooding during its monsoon season, which has increased in intensity with climate change. Throughout August and October, Bangladesh faced two major waves of extreme flooding caused by monsoon rains and worsened by flash floods and landslides. Millions were displaced and affected, including hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh in 2017 following a genocide in Myanmar. Beyond displacement, the flooding in Bangladesh also caused an economic impact, destroying an estimated 1.1 million metric tons of rice and disrupting the country’s status as the third-largest rice producer in the world. The floods and landslides damaged other agricultural outputs as well, including vegetables, bringing the country’s total agricultural losses in the floods to an estimated $380 million. The flood damage created a food insecurity issue within the country, causing residents to rely more heavily on imports than domestic goods.
For many, the disastrous effects of climate change have yet to interfere with daily life. However, for global citizens located in vulnerable coastal regions, the threat posed by climate change has become increasingly more intense and immediate, raising questions about the future of both physical and economic safety in the places they call home.
Zoe Lodge
Zoe is a student at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is studying English and Politics, Philosophy, & Law. She combines her passion for writing with her love for travel, interest in combatting climate change, and concern for social justice issues.