Potential benefits of 3D visualisation of sea level rise visualisations in Malta

Abstract

Sea Level Rise (SLR) is one of the impacts of climate change, which is particularly problematic to low lying coastal areas, such as the north east coast of Malta. It is thus of utmost importance to know how different areas will be affected, and to what degree. Some of the aims of this dissertation thus consist of developing a better understanding of the implications of sea level rise along certain localities, and investigating the perception of the general public with regards to local visualisation scenarios of sea level rise. Four different localities along the Maltese coastline were selected to be visualised under different scenarios of sea level rise, so as to evaluate the impact of this phenomenon on various aspects, including transportation and recreation. These localities were visualised in both 2D and 3D. These visualisations were then presented to the general public by the means of a public survey. Results clearly showed a preference of 3D over 2D visualisations, which was mainly attributed to the fact that the former are more realistic. These type of visualisations were also shown to be more effective in changing the initial thoughts of respondents with regards to how vulnerable the Maltese islands are to sea level rise.