Assessment and validation of the sea level rise threat to Grande Riviere, Trinidad
Date
2011-04
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Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management, University of the West Indies
Abstract
Grande Riviere is a coastal community that lies at that backshore of the
Grande Riviere beach on the Northern coastline of Trinidad. This beach is famous
for the sight-seeing of leatherback turtles that visit every year to nest on the beach.
It is a very important tourist attraction and as a result has built a thriving economy
for the community of Grande Riviere. Of recent, Sea Level Rise (SLR) as a result
of climate change has been the topic of investigative reports especially along the
coastlines of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
This report entails a study done on the coastline of Grande Riviere in order
to assess the impact of SLR on the beach and consequently the nesting of
leatherback turtles on the beach. Both primary and secondary data was collected in
terms of beach profiles from previous years and a beach profile was done for the
current year. Datasets were also collected. All data were processed and Arc Map
and Arc Scene were used to illustrate the data in a form of a map. A polygon was
digitized for each map using an elevation of 0.4m which would fall into the
IPCC’s category 1 of their sea level rise scenarios. The polygons that were
digitized were used to analyze the area of the beach that would be impacted by the
0.4m rise in sea level. In addition, line graphs were also created and analyzed in
order to get an assessment of the profile of the beach over time. Once the results
were analyzed and compared, a conclusion in terms of the impact of sea level rise
of 0.4m on the beach was drawn.
The area found common to all polygons that will definitely be impacted
upon by a 0.4m rise in sea level was found to be 1119.7m2 and a conclusion was
also drawn that this rise in sea level will impact the shoreline by accretion and
erosion. It was found that the ideal habitat for the nesting of the leatherback turtles
may be damaged after some time as the form of the beach is likely to change. As a
result, the turtles may find an alternative nesting area which would consequently
devastate the thriving economy of the community of Grande Riviere.
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Keywords
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, CARIBBEAN, COASTAL AREAS, SEA LEVEL, TOURISM, CLIMATE CHANGE