It also threatens populations, who can no longer live close to the coastline, and the worry is it is expected to increase due to climate change and sea level rise.
The threat is more evident in heavily populated low-lying areas, and the risk multiplies with prospects of climate change and associated sea-level rise.
"Even though they seem far away, changes in the polar regions could have an impact on both hemispheres, with sea level rise and changes in climate patterns, " he said.
Excess carbon dioxide is accelerating global warming, sea level rise, ocean acidification and overall climate change.
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If spending on defences remains limited, and the scenarios for sea-level rise through climate change prove correct, conservation of the marshes may acquire more urgency.
By feeding into his model both some recent science on the increased risks of dramatic climate change, and the possibility of such catastrophes as a rise in sea level big enough to flood London and New York, he calculates that the range of possible outcomes lies somewhere between 5% and 20% of global output over the next century or two.
But in the meantime the process continues, and climate change may ultimately put restoration hopes out of reach by accelerating sea level rise.
If climate change continues unabated, the resulting sea level rises will force cities and states all along the coasts to divert parts of their already strained budgets into billions of dollars worth of infrastructure improvements to prevent flooding.
Caribbean faces unique challenges in coping with the climate change, sea-level rise, natural disasters, alleviation of poverty and sustainable development.
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We must understand and adapt to a changing climate, including more frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, drought and floods, and continued sea level rise.
The IPCC Panel's near-consensus was that human activity is having some discernible impact on climate, and that by 2100, a warming earth could result in more frequent storms and droughts, sea level rise of up to three feet, and up to six degrees F. in temperature rise.
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