Figure 6C.13: Concentration of human settlement
and activities is frequently along low-lying coasts,
as shown here for Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
Photo: Helen Henry
offices, fire and police stations are mostly located with- In addition, most of the world’s megacities are in vulner-
in coastal inundation zones
75
. able coastal regions, some are located on sinking deltaic
The port facilities at Suva, Fiji and Apia, Samoa would regions, and are subject to flooding from storm surges
experience overtopping, damage to wharves and flood- as so graphically illustrated by the New Orleans experi-
ing of the hinterland if there was a 0.5 m rise in sea ence of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. See the box on New
level combined with waves associated with a 1 in 50 York City for a case study on vulnerability of megacities
year cyclone
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. to sea-level rise.
CHAPTER 6C ICE AND SEA-LEVEL CHANGE 173