Coastal Risk Vanuatu: Predicted Coastal Flooding Resulting from Climate Change

It’s great that you're keen on seeing what the Vanuatu coast may look like in 2100. Here is some information on how to get the most out of Coastal Risk Vanuatu (CRV). This version has been opened for public consultation, therefore if you experience any issues, or wish to provide feedback please submit a comment using the feedback link provided. If you enjoy the experience, feel free to like us with Twitter or LinkedIn by clicking the icons in the top right of your screen. For more information on any of the terminology or concepts in this guide go to the Background section of CRV. 

Quick and Easy 

Click on one of the well-known places on the front page, accept the conditions of use and you're away. Pan and zoom to your places of interest to see the high tide flood extent for today (dark blue) and the high sea level rise scenario for 2100 (light blue). Type in a location in the top left Google Search once you're in the map and you can go to any coastal location around Vanuatu where there is data. 

Using the 2100 Sea Level Rise Scenarios provided by the IPCC 

In the top left corner of the map screen you can see the predicted scenarios. You are able to select either the high, medium or low sea level rise scenarios to look at how the 2100 high tide inundation changes with each scenario. Go to the Background section to read about the details of each scenario. These are based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report scenarios. 

Seeing More or Less Information 

You can click either of the two "Current Day Highest Tide" or "2100 | + X.XXm Highest Tide" buttons to turn off the flood extents. You can also go to the Layers panel on the left hand side to reveal the Flood,DEM, Aerial Photography, and Cyclone Pam UAV Photography layers. Click any of these to turn them on and off and to also adjust transparency. The Flood box turns on and off the flood extents. The DEMlayer turns on and off the underlying data which shows the heights of the land. The DEM is used to calculate which are the low-lying areas that get flooded. The Cyclone PAM UAV photography has been provided by the Pacific Community (SPC) and captures some of the damage that was caused by Cyclone Pam in March 2015. The dot placemarks for this layer indicate where there is UAV imagery on Efate and Tanna. 

Manually Setting Your Inundation 

In the top left you can select either Predicted or Manual. Click on Manual and then use the slider to set the inundation level to whatever you like. The level you set will be the height above current day mean sea level.