integrated coastal zone management project west ... - Iczmpwb.org

204284. Over the last 150-200 years climate change has been taking place rapidly and certainplant and animal species have found it hard to adapt. Human activities are said to beresponsible for the speed at which this change has occurred and it is now a cause of concern.Although, there are controversies and doubts regarding the scale of climate change andconsequent sea level rise, after the publication of Fourth Assessment Report of IPCC, it hasbeen accepted world wide that global climatic change is a reality and the mankind shouldstart preparing to adapt and perhaps mitigate the same.285. Global climate and sea level changes will have severe impact on the highly populatedcoastal zones all over the world. Currently the changes are not only threatening the veryexistence of coastal installations, constructions and investments but also creating seriousimpediments for demarcation of boundaries of coastal zones based on high tide line. Inorder to formulate any worthwhile coastal zone management plan of West Bengal especiallyof the Sundarban region, it is therefore imperative to work out the changing morphology ofthe major estuaries of Sundarban, to identify and monitor the dynamic rate of coastal erosion/ accretion and to record land use changes in the Sundarban using principally RS and GIStechniques.286. The other important area of research, that will have a direct bearing on response ofclimate change in the Sundarban, is continuous field measurements of estuarine/coastalprocess and response parameters. This will include such process parameters like tides,waves, weather and their responses like possible sea level rise through time, estuarinebathymetry, suspended sediment concentration, bottom sediment characteristics, etc. Themeasured data sets of these variables over a sufficient long period of time would thenprovide the necessary input towards understanding of the impact of perceived climatechange on estuarine dynamics of the Sundarban and towards reliable application of climatechange model for realistic prediction of sea level rise, change in estuarine process dynamicsand related adjustment of estuarine form elements with their material make up likesuspended sediment concentration, bed load transport rate and bottom sedimentcharacteristics.Work Elements of proposed programme287. The proposed research programme on Estuarine dynamics of Sundarban and theirresponse to possible climate change will be implemented through integrated efforts of theRS & GIS laboratory and Estuarine & near shore survey & research (ENSSR) unit of CSD.The major work elements are as follows:288. RS & GIS laboratory