Physical limits of sea-level rise adaptation in global river deltas: code instruction

Abstract: Sea-level rise threatens deltas worldwide, requiring adaptation to flood risks. Delta adaptation is typically presented as a choice between five strategies: advance, protect-closed, protect-open, accommodate, and retreat. However, a full assessment of the physical feasibility of these strategies across deltas remains limited. We present a first-order assessment of the physical solution space for adaptation to sea-level rise for nearly 800 deltas globally. We find that current technologies, resources, and space provide at least one physically feasible delta-wide strategy for every delta to adapt by 2100. This number may increase in the future through technical innovation or collaboration between deltas. The type and number of physically feasible strategies are mostly determined by delta’s physical characteristics, whereby, large, urbanized, or frequently flooded deltas have fewer options than small, rural, or infrequently flooded deltas. Our analysis highlights the risk of resource limitations as global deltas will need to adapt simultaneously to future flood risks. This capsule contains the code and datasets used to map the physical solution space of global deltas by 2100 under a number of climate scenarios. The workflow combines data preprocessing, modelling and visualizations. The model determines the physical feasibility of adaptation by assessing the physical characteristics of each delta and applying three thresholds to assess whether measures can be implemented. The visualization scripts include the physical solution space figures for individual and global deltas, and the material requirements for each strategy.