Anthroscape of the Mediterranean Coastal Area in the Context of Hydrogeology: Projected Impacts of Climate Change

Abstract

A common concern currently prevailing around the world is the threat of global climate change, which may cause enormous impacts on ecosystems. Global climate change and its accompanying sea-level rise affect the landscape of the Mediterranean coastal area by changing the local hydrologic cycle. Specifically, future adaptation or mitigation of the impacts of climate change on agricultural practices in the arid coastal region depends on the availability of water resources including groundwater. These human activities would certainly bring major changes to the anthroscape.

SIFEC (Saltwater Intrusion by Finite Elements and Characteristics), a numerical code linking groundwater with lagoon water in terms of water volume and salt mass, was applied to a groundwater system in the Lower Seyhan River Basin along the Mediterranean Sea in southern Turkey. Projected results show that while sea-level rise will not cause substantial saltwater intrusion directly from the seabed during the next 70 years, the combination of sea-level rise with increasing evaporation and decreasing precipitation can cause significant impact on salinity in the lagoon water. The increased salinity of the lagoon may in turn cause saltwater to penetrate into the deeper layers beneath the lagoon and eventually cause a drastic increase in the salinity of groundwater. All of these impacts lead directly to land degradation and desertification through changes in soil–water conditions and the accumulation of salt on the land surface.