ABSTRACT
Abstract: Current understanding of the potential course of climate change, sea-level rise, and related impacts on the coastal zone over the twenty-rst century is dened in this chapter. The assessment is based on the conclusions of the Fourth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in 2007. Subsequent developments in understanding are also discussed and full consideration is given to uncertainties in the climate projections. As far as adaptation is concerned, the critical issue is how to plan for an uncertain future. At one end of the spectrum of possibilities, the change in the planetary environment over the twenty-rst century may be unprecedented in recent human history. At the other end of the range, the change in climate may prove not much greater than humanity has experienced in recent decades. The degree of uncertainty increases over time, so a process of staged, or nested, implementation, allowing for plans to evolve as experience dictates, appears advisable.
