Tamil Nadu has a coastline that is 1,076 km long, and most of the vital installations and infrastructure, are located along the coast, not to mention the mangroves. While the quantum of sea level rise is being debated, the fact that sea level would rise due to global warming is not doubted. Even by the conservative estimate of 1 m rise in the next forty years, nearly 2,000 square kilometres along the coast would be permanently inundated. But the total area at risk would be six times as much. The preliminary analysis is based on a report to be published by the Chennai based the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR). The estimate is based on a preliminary analysis of the replacement value of major infrastructure, cost of wetland damage, and the market value of land at risk from a conservative estimate of 1 metre rise in sea level by 2050. The study has not looked into the impact on human population. And the study aims to be