From a conceptual viewpoint, it is important to recognize that coastal zones constitute a complex adaptive system with two components: natural systems and human systems that interact with each other. This chapter shows that there are strong connections and relationships of direct and indirect cause and effect between the socio-economic development of coastal zones and the vulnerability of these
... [Show full abstract] zones to climate change. It addresses several impacts of cumulative global changes on coastal zones. One of the most important is the impact of the exploitation of surface and underground water resources. A system's vulnerability to climate change depends on present and future impacts and on its capacity to adapt. Coastal zones' adaptation to climate change is considered specifically, but the adjustment of natural and human coastal systems to cumulative global changes and to the interactions and synergies between the two adjustment processes is also addressed.