Joop A. Ten Cate

Abstract

There is an internationally growing evidence that sea level rise, as a consequence ofman-induced climatic changes, will affect our planet not only on a regional but also ona global scale and will create severe problems for society.In this paper we summarize the effects of climatic changes in the past, indicate thedifferent types of man-induced climatic changes and discuss the (potential) effects of thesechanges on the worldwide average sea-level. Thereafter a summary of the progress ingeomorphological survey and mapping is presented with The Netherlands serving as anexample. Finally some remarks are made on useful geomorphological data: survey andmapping can contribute in encountering the problems caused by sea-level rise on society inthe next century.

Joop A. Ten Cate, Soil Survey Institute, Wageningen, The Netherlands