Socioeconomic vulnerability to sea level rise in Tampico, Tamaulipas

Abstract

Studies of vulnerability on Mexican coasts is an emerging issue in the face of imminent risk from the effects of climate change, impacting human settlements, tourism, economic activities, coastal ecosystems, among others. The importance of the research is that, increasingly, the uncertainty of climate change, coupled with the increase in disasters, has an impact on the endogenous development of the coastal localities of Mexico and Latin America. So this research, aims to discuss the economic, social and cultural aspects that may occur in the port of Tampico, Tamaulipas, under the scenario of a sudden increase in sea level of 5 meters. The methodological process consisted in geographizing the vulnerable groups that are currently within the danger zone. It should be noted that in the quantitative treatment required the management of micro-data, while qualitative techniques, applied during fieldwork, represent a balanced interdisciplinary approach. Among the most pressing results is that, if the municipality of Tampico suffered a flood of five meters above sea level, 58 km2 would be flooded (63% of the total territorial), which represented a value exceeding 7 billion Dollars. Based on the above, it is necessary to formulate policies aimed at vulnerable groups in order to reduce the sensitivity of the systems and to develop resilient coastal cities.