In about three decades, the Philippines could find many of its coastal areas, including those surrounding Manila Bay, underwater due to the effects of climate change.
According to research by science organization Climate Central (published in open-access journal Nature Communications), 150 million people - three times more than was previously estimated - could potentially be displaced by 2050, or up to 300 million by the end of the century if climate change is not mitigated.
In this context, many scientists and experts will elaborate and study the problem of efficient coastal erosion risk assessment. This will allow analysis, on-the-fly aggregation, synthesis and reporting of information for users and decision-makers, furthering the deployment of geospatial technologies in the assessment, analysis and visualization of coastal risks. This includes geographical information and global positioning systems for identifying potential hazards, placing vulnerability indicators and spotting elements at risk.
In addition, aerial remote-sensing platforms, including unmanned aerial vehicles, are seeing increased non-military and, primarily, data-gathering use. High-quality hardware and data is now available to new audiences, such as universities, corporations and non-governmental organizations. The fields and sectors deploying these technologies are growing at a rapid pace, arming decision-makers with information not only about coastal risk, but industrial engineering, biodiversity conservation, forest fire suppression, agricultural monitoring, humanitarian relief, and much more.
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