Assessing Coastal Vulnerability Index in Mediterranean Areas: A Case Study of Casablanca

The on-going changing climate and its impacts are affecting our environment and most of the people who live in coastal areas. Seventy per cent of our home planet Earth is covered with oceans and they are accumulating more than 90% of the additional heat due to greenhouse gas emissions. That heat increases ocean volume through thermal expansion, and results in sea-level rise. To determine the consequences of climate change on the coastline of Casablanca, we used remote sensing technical approach combining the analysis processes of radar satellite altimetry images, Landsat satellite images, Google earth image, DEM image and geological and topographic maps of Casablanca. The creation of a database and its analysis show that the major parts of the coastline, especially on the sand beaches, situated at elevation less than 12 m are threatened by the sea rising at the rate of 2.6 mm/year and are under pressure of erosion possesses at a rate of -3 m/year. Fifty per cent of the study regions have a high coastal vulnerability index and are vulnerable to natural phenomena such as inundation, high tides, and coastal erosion.