The impact of the Red Sea level rise on Jeddah’s coastal districts, Western Saudi Arabia

Abstract EN

Segments of Jeddah’s coastal areas are vulnerable to be claimed by sea water if the Sea Level Rise (SLR) of the Red Sea increased in the future.

Therefore, this research focuses on the potential impacts of 1 m SLR on Jeddah’s coastal areas by identifying the potential impacted districts and estimate the percentage of coastal area that might be affected by sea water.

Due to the accuracy limitation of the available Digital Elevation Model (DEM) globally to analyze the SLR in centimeters intervals, the 1 m SLR scenario has been considered during this study as it presents an extreme possible scenario by 2100.

The outputs of the study illustrated that 24 coastal districts within Jeddah area will be partially encroached by sea water.

For SLR by 1 m, the low intrusion impacts illustrated in 7 out of 24 districts (< 10% of the total district area), a moderate intrusion impacts illustrated in 9 out of 24 districts (> 10% & < 45 % of the total district area) and a significant intrusion impacts illustrated in 8 out of 24 districts (> 45% of the total district area).

This study might be used as a tool to support the decision makers to develop a disaster risk management plan to adapt, mitigate and protect the potential threatened areas within Jeddah city.