Prevention and Management of Sea Originated Risks to the Coastal Zone
The project CORI aims at providing tools to intercept and manage sea-originated threats to the coastal zone. The project is comprised of: • Identification and mapping of tsunami and other extreme sea level hazards for Eastern Mediterranean coasts. Actions for public education and awareness for responsive actions. • Development of tools and methodologies for managing and minimizing the impact of coastal pollution events (due to oil spills and other sources). • Development and application of a pilot plan for coastal prevention and response to accidental marine pollution events. The Eastern Mediterranean Sea, characterized by the highest earthquake potential of Europe, has repeatedly been hit by tsunamis, as the instrumental, historical and geological records reveal. Lately the tsunami-related threat is more ominous than before due to the rise of tourism and population concentration in coastal areas. Other emerging threats to coastal communities include chemical, microbial and even radioactive pollution, while the frequency and size of extreme sea-level events is expected to rise in the future, possibly causing sea-originated floods. The project aims to provide tools and methodologies to intercept and/or manage a number of sea-originated threats to the coastal zone and to increase the security of coastal regions against the above-mentioned threats. More specifically, the objective of the project is to develop long term planning and immediate response measures for the monitoring, interception and management of sea originated threats related to a. Tsunamis b. Extreme sea-level variability c. Marine pollution caused by episodic events.