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BOX 7 Impact of Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment – Case of Bahrain Module
4

In order to assess the impact of SLR on coastal zone resources, Geographical information
systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) techniques were used to quantitatively assess
the extent and impact of SLR on coastal zones of Bahrain islands. Basic data sets include
building a digital elevation model (DEM) and producing a classified satellite imagery
(captured in 1995). SLR scenarios were created assuming different values, starting from 20 Abu Dhabi, UAE
cm sea-level rise to 100 cm (the worst scenario). Vulnerable areas by sectors and land use
classes were calculated mathematically by overlaying the classified image over the DEM
image. The calculated percentage provides an indication of the degree of vulnerability of a

specific sector to the SLR and the future impacts that might be experienced.

The study shows that some of the coastal areas in Bahrain will be inundated by seawater.
This will bear significant socio-economic and ecological implications since infrastructure and
economic activities are concentrated at the coastal zones. Under the modest conservative
SLR scenario (20cm SLR), nearly 5% of the total area of Bahrain will be in danger of

inundation. Whereas approximately 7% and 10% of the total area of the country will be
inundated due to 50 and 100 cm SLR respectively.

Al-Jenied, S. and Abido, M. 2004. Impact of Climate
Change Vulnerability Assessment. General Commission
for the Protection of Marine Environment and Wildlife.
Kingdom of Bahrain. 46p.

IEA Training Manual Workshop for the National Reporting Toolkit (NRT) 83