Evaluation of Oman coastline to study impact of global warming
Posted by Zawya
Oman Daily Observer
03 August 2010


MUSCAT -- The land movement along Oman's coastline needs to be reconstructed and quantified in order to assess and quantify the expected climate changes. This is very important because coastal zones like the coast of the Sultanate are important for human societies and official statistics reveal that more than 50 per cent of the Omani population live along the coastline in Muscat and Al Batinah region.

This was stated by Dr Gosta Hoffmann, Assistant Professor of Applied Geosciences at GUtech.

Dr Hoffmann and a team of the Department of Applied Geosciences at GUtech are working on a research project and trying to find out Oman's status in global climate change. "For the Sultanate it is very important to evaluate the evolution of the whole coastline. This is important to quantify and predict the implications of global climate change for groundwater resources to define the vulnerability of coastal infrastructure concerning natural hazards," said Dr Hoffmann.

"Oman's coastline will be of significant value for the future development of the country resulting in conflicting land use demands, developing potential which is restricted by natural limitations such as water or land," he said. Dr Hoffman said human activities such as burning fossil fuels, coal, oil, gas and deforestation lead to an increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. Carbon dioxide generally absorbs heat radiation from the Earth's surface which leads to higher temperatures.

"If climate changes were small or slow this would not be a problem, societies could adapt, however the changes are huge and fast."

Dr Hoffmann started his scientific career at the University of Greifswald in northern Germany where he obtained his PhD. His dissertation focused on the Late Pleistocene and Holocene coastal evolution of the Baltic Sea.

Fascinated by this topic he went on to become a research fellow in this area at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. During this two-year post doctorate study he concentrated on the evolution of the Rhine Delta. In 2008, he joined the research group of Neotectonics and Geohazards at RWTH Aachen University.

Dr Hoffmann has also guided geological field trips in various countries.

Citing global data Dr Hoffman said during the 20th century sea level rose by about 17 cm and since 1850 the 12 warmest years were between 1995 and 2007. Climate has changed throughout the Earth history, this is a natural process, he said and added that "the global climate change is linked with global changes in sea levels.

"During the last ice age, about 20,000 years ago, the sea level was about 120 metres below the present level."

Suggesting the ways Dr Hoffmann urged individual and community action to minimise emissions of carbon dioxide as well as to develop adaption strategies. Burning less fuel or coal, foster the use of solar energy and adapt in coastal areas the implementation of coastal management strategies.

By Kaushalendra Singh

© Oman Daily Observer 2010

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