Mangrove on Erakor Island, Vanuatu.
Photo: Topham Picturepoint/TopFoto.co.uk
Figure 6C.9: Male, Maldives.
Photo: Bruce Richmond, USGS
Vulnerable sectors, systems and simplistic. While the interiors of many small islands rise
localities to high elevations, settlements, infrastructure and facili-
ties are usually concentrated around the coastal perim-
Small islands and low-lying coastal areas, such as deltas, eter. In low-lying areas (such as coastal Bangladesh) the
have long been considered amongst the areas most vul- adverse consequences of a rising sea level will be felt at
nerable to sea-level rise
39,50–53
. Low elevation and close least 100 km inland
54
. Variations in relative sea-level rise
proximity to a rising ocean are important collective con- also need to be considered, especially in large, geologi-
tributors to this vulnerability. But such a view is overly cally-complex features, such as deltas.
CHAPTER 6C ICE AND SEA-LEVEL CHANGE 167