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Mean sea-level rise impacts on Santos Bay, Southeastern Brazil – physical modelling study

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Abstract

The greenhouse effect and resulting increase in the Earth’s temperature may accelerate the mean sea-level rise. The natural response of bays and estuaries to this rise, such as this case study of Santos Bay (Brazil), will include change in shoreline position, land flooding and wetlands impacts. The main impacts of this scenario were studied in a physical model built in the Coastal and Harbour Division of Hydraulic Laboratory, University of São Paulo, and the main conclusions are presented in this paper. The model reproduces near 1,000 km2 of the study area, including Santos, São Vicente, Praia Grande, Cubatão, Guarujá and Bertioga cities.

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Correspondence to Paolo Alfredini.

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Alfredini, P., Arasaki, E. & do Amaral, R.F. Mean sea-level rise impacts on Santos Bay, Southeastern Brazil – physical modelling study. Environ Monit Assess 144, 377–387 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-007-0001-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-007-0001-z

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