Among the hazards associated with climate change, sea level rise presents scientists and policy makers with special challenges like increasing population and property values in coast zones, increasing uncertainty due to our limited understanding of the dynamical behavior of the ice sheets and common tendency to ignore large risks whose timing is uncertain. Accordingly, coastal planning often suffers from the “fighting the last war” syndrome, an approach to risk management that will fail in the face of a perpetually increasing hazard.
Nevertheless, new approaches to managing risks, well-known policy options and measures for adaptation can significantly reduce exposure and vulnerability along the coast, despite the expectations of a continuing rise in sea level throughout this century and beyond, even in low-emissions scenarios. Implementing these will require not merely considerable expense, but also a degree of foresight and ex ante action that in many countries, has not yet characterized the coastal planning and protection process.