Vulnerability of Coastal Communities to Sea Level Rise in Brass Local Government Area, Nigeria

Abstract

Coastal communities are continuously under threat of survival due to sea level rise, which has increased their vulnerability to inundation resulting to loss of livelihood, property and land area. Hence, this study investigated the vulnerability of the communities in the Brass coast to the impacts of sea level rise. Three communities (Twon-Brass, Okpoama and Diema) located within 0 – 1.2km from the shoreline, and where economic activities are prominent were purposively selected for the study. To assess the level of vulnerability of these communities to sea level rise, the coastal vulnerability index method comprising of six variables (topography, geomorphology, relative sea level rise rate, annual shoreline erosion rate, proximity to coast and population growth rate) were adopted. Landsat imageries at 10years interval for the period 1999 to 2019 were acquired to analyze the Brass shoreline dynamics. The results revealed that for a period of 20 years (1999-2019), the Brass coast has experienced a net land loss of 364.0km2 and a projected land loss of 910km2 by 2050, based on the current scenario. The study further revealed that Twon-Brass and Okpoama communities have high risk of inundation due to sea level rise with a calculated coastal vulnerability index values of 23.1 and 25.3, respectively; while Diema community had moderate risk of being inundated with a coastal vulnerability index value of 21.9. The study recommends the development of an integrated mitigation and adaptation strategy that would increase the resilience of the coastal communities to withstand the threat of sea level rise.