Phys.org  April 15, 2024
Sea-level rise (SLR) is influencing coastal groundwater by both elevating the water table and shifting salinity profiles landward, making the subsurface increasingly corrosive. Low-lying coastal municipalities worldwide are vulnerable to an array of impacts spurred by these phenomena, which can occur decades before SLR-induced surface inundation. Damage is accumulating across a variety of infrastructure networks that extend partially and fully beneath the ground surface and it is largely overlooked as part of infrastructure management and planning. Researchers at the University of Hawaii provided an overview of SLR-influenced coastal groundwater and related processes that have the potential to damage societally critical infrastructure and mobilize urban contamination. To promote research efforts that can inform effective adaptation and management, they discussed various impacts to critical infrastructure and propose actions based on literature focused specifically on SLR-influenced coastal groundwater… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Conceptual model of an unconfined coastal aquifer (a) prior to and (b) following a rise in sea level… Credit: ANNUAL REVIEW OF MARINE SCIENCE, Volume 16, 2024