Paper detail

Zonas costeras bajas en el Golfo de México ante el incremento del nivel del mar

This paper presents an estimate of the land area affected in the event of sea level rise of 0.6 m, 1 m and 2 m for Mexican sates with coasts along Gulf of Mexico. Likewise, the number of residents in vulnerable areas that would occur in the scenario of sea level rise of 1 m is estimated. To do so, terrain elevation data of NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission is used, along with a proprietary algorithm that allows the reconstruction of the affected area. In order to estimate the land area digital image processing is used. These results are geo-referenced for comparison with human settlements in the regions of interest. Results show that the total affected area corresponds to 1.26% of Mexico national territorial extension and 3.18% of the Mexico total population. 174 settlements with 1000 inhabitants or more are expected to be affected. The Mexican state with the largest area affected is Tabasco with more than 21% of its territory, while the most vulnerable population will be Veracruz, with more than 1 million people at risk if the scenario 1m increase would appear today. Meanwhile, 81.1% Quintana Roo population will be at zones with high flood risk. Vulnerable settlements are listed and the maps corresponding to different Mexican states are shown.