Salt Lines: Markers of Climate Change

Abstract

A critical side-effect of climate change and the connected sea level rise is the migrating, in rivers that flow to the sea, of the salt line, namely the area where fresh water becomes salty. The movement of the salt line up the rivers can affect the supply of fresh water, with deep impacts on communities and economic activities, as well as animal and vegetal species. The article discusses the possible and still not entirely known effects of the salt line movement in three cases — the Hudson and the Delaware rivers in North America, and the Clyde river in Europe — and wonders how salt lines could be represented, that is part of the larger challenge of understanding and visualizing the climate change phenomenon.