Mombasa Island stands to lose Sh136 billion if the projected destruction rising sea levels said to happen in over 50 years due to climate change occurs.
Lamu is also another county at risk of losing a lot in terms of property and infrastructure.
The coastal islands of Mombasa and Lamu's urban infrastructure development, planning and design is most likely going to be impacted by the sea level rise on the coastal built environment.
The new findings indicate that the Government should rethink the coastal design and planning especially with regards to sea level rise.
The sea level rise which is expected to take place in the next 60 years is giving scientists globally a lot of head ache.
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In a paper presented in Paris, France by South Africa's Wits University, architecture and planning department, the beautiful coastal cities are at the bridge of destruction due to rising sea levels caused by ocean acidification caused by climate change.
The paper titled "Rethinking Coastal Design and Planning: Integrated SLR Vulnerability Assessments, Case of Mombasa and Lamu Islands", Violet Ochanda said The two counties are relatively lower in elevation and hence the increased vulnerability.
"Compared to other Low Elevation Coastal Zones (LECZs) defined as contiguous areas along the coast that is less than 10 meters above sea level," she said.
She said the least developed countries have 14 per cent of their populations living in the LECZs compared to 10 per cent for the developed countries with the disparities widening in coastal urban
areas.
"Literature suggests that coastal cities in the developing world are ill prepared for the impacts arising from sea level changes and related storm surges," Ochanda said.
She noted the southern and eastern African coastline (comprising the coasts of south africa, Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya), will regularly be affected by changes in cyclonic and other significant
weather events that pose risks related to the development and infrastructure in these countries.
The US' Recent Southern Ocean studies have suggested a slowdown of ocean carbon sequestration, an acidification of the water-masses, an overall warming and freshening in the vicinity of Antarctica, and
drastic changes in sea ice and ice-shelf distributions.
The sea level rise observed that warming rate is faster than the global average, and occurs in the deepest layers of the ocean. The warming leads to ice-shelves melting, which accelerates the discharge
of the ice sheet via the ice streams, and has a direct and major impact on the global sea level rise.
French Centre for Scientific Research's Senior Research Scientist Jean-Pierre Gatuso said it is estimated that the water levels are going to rise to up to 0.9 metres if nothing is done about global warming.
"Melting of the glaciers is underestimated. The sea is rising, but an estimation of three meters rise is way too much," he said.
According to Columbia University Economics Prof Joseph Stiglitz, it is true that a lot of thermal expansion is taking place.
"It is true the water levels are rising due to melting of ice," he said.
