## 4 Discussion
Furthermore, the generalized nature of the projected SLC dataset is evident when comparing the vertical motion values of this dataset with the ones of the EGMS dataset. NASA's projection on vertical motion provides a horizontal value of \(-0.382\) m for 2050 and \(-0.807\) m for 2100 for the area of interest, while the EGMS service produces a range between \(-2.963\) to \(1.673\) m for 2050 and \(-7.5932\) to \(4.288\) m for 2100. This discrepancy between the two datasets reveals that when solely using the Sea Level Change estimation projections of NASA, the vertical ground motion values will be, in places, severely overestimated or underestimated, thus introducing more uncertainty in the projection values. The results of the algorithm reveal that Greece, Italy, and France are the countries that are expected to be more exposed to future Sea Level Rise scenarios by 2050 and 2100. Regarding Greece and Italy, the results appear reasonable due to their extensive coastline in the Mediterranean Sea and their insular morphology. On the other hand, France ranks 5 th in coastline extension among the eight EU-27 countries that were studied (Table 1). However, if we combine the data on coastline length (km) and additional affected areas by Sea Level Change Scenario for 2050 and 2100 (sq. km. ), it can be observed that France has 0.02 sq. km. of new affected land per km of coastline, while the same metric for Greece and Italy is around 0.01 sq.km/km. This can be attributed to the more lowland morphology of the Mediterranean French Coast in conjunction with the major river deltas found in the area such as the Rhone Delta in the region of Camargue. Concerning cultural heritage assets, at present, only five UNESCO World Heritage Sites present a negative minimum elevation value, i.e., the Amalfi Coast and Venice in Italy, and, the island of Delos, the Medieval City of Rhodes and Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos in Greece. These WHSs will face further exposure to Sea Level Rise in the future according to the results of the proposed algorithm, as no other records appear to be affected by SLR. However, no exact polygon information on the complete extent of the designated UNESCO WHSs was retrieved; so, a buffer zone of 50 m was created around the point coordinate information, which, in some cases, can be very restricted. The findings of the present research concerning UNESCO WHSs correspond to those of previous studies [8; 15] that, however, include even more records of sites under SLR threat according to their data and proposed methodology. Finally, concerning the remaining coastal heritage assets as retrieved from OpenStreetMap, it can be noted that, currently, 243 records present a minimum elevation value of less than 0, the majority of which are in Greece (72), France (62), Italy (46) and Spain (40). The present research demonstrated that an additional sum of approximately 215 records will be added to the CH assets exposed to SLR by 2050 or 2100 under the three RCP scenarios, the vast majority of which are in Greece (102) and Italy (80). The identification of Cultural Heritage Assets under Sea Level Rise threat--or climate-related hazards threats in general, including air pollution, extreme temperature variations, severe winds, extreme precipitation, etc.--is a crucial step in beginning to discuss potential adaptation and mitigation measures to enhance the resilience of these monuments. It is generally considered best practice that the mitigation measures should follow a more holistic approach since--especially in the Mediterranean Sea--the coastal archeological sites are usually located near settlements and contribute to an area's identity, touristic product, employment, and economy [82; 83]. The strong connection between tourism and cultural heritage is revealed by the fact that approximately 40% of tourists select their travel destination considering the cultural product offered in each location [84]. Tourism