By the year 2100 the rate of global sea level rise may increase to over 10mm/year, which would represent a sevenfold increase over past rates. Local increases could be still greater depending on local subsidence factors. The potential impacts of accelerated sea level rise include the permanently inundated of portions of the coastal zone to an elevation equivalent to the vertical rise in sea level. The increase in sea level will also increase the likelihood of episodic flooding events and will cause tidal ranges to be altered. Increasing salinization of coastal aquifers and upstream penetration of saltwater resulting from sea level rise could contaminate drinking water supplies and affect agriculture. The effects of the global sea level rise on the shoreline will be spatially non-uniform because of the presence of local vertical movements, differential resistance to erosion, varying wave climates and variations in longshore currents and sediment supplies. The ability to identify areas vulnerable to future changes in local sea level, as a result of local vertical movements (i.e. subsidence) and sea level rise, is necessary if a timely response is to be made to the rising sea. The Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) is an indicator-based method for estimating the vulnerability of the coastal area to future shocks. It has been designed to reflect the status of a coastal area's vulnerability. Along the 100 Km of the shoreline of the western Thermaikos Gulf, low-lying areas, Ramsar sites, deltas, sensitive and important ecosystems etc., exist. Due to the facts that a) the region is reported to subside with a rate of 40 cm/century, b) the areas far from the shoreline have negative elevations and c) very often heavy rain inundate the land, the CVI approach is called to identify the coastal red spots (or the vulnerable coastal areas). Taking into account the oceanographic, geologic, geomorphologic and climatic environments of the coastal region, the calculation of the CVI along 412 transects of the shoreline shows clearly the red regions, that is, the coastal areas that are vulnerable to sea level rise, erosion and climatic stressors. The results spot the coastal area along the village of Kalochori to be extremely vulnerable. Since the region subsides with a rate of 5 m/century, risk managers and coastal engineers must take close care at this particular region to protect lives, properties and environment.
