Coastal erosion is tipped to be on the agenda at the COP26 climate conference on Monday. In Europe sea levels could reach 37cm by 2080, causing land loss that threatens infrastructure, livelihoods and heritage sites.
As climate change causes sea levels to rise around the world, typically it is small island nations that sound the alarm at events like COP26.
Last week, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley told attendees at the conference in Glasgow that a 2-degree Celsius rise in global temperatures would cause an increase in sea levels equivalent to a “death sentence” for the Caribbean island. Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe stood knee-deep in the sea around the South Pacific island to illustrate the scale of the problem as he filmed a video statement to send to the summit.
But in Europe too, climate change is having a dramatic impact on the shoreline as rising seas mean waves hit the coast at higher levels, and increasing storms and changes in wind direction join forces to wear land away.
Part of the problem is that coastal populations and human infrastructure is increasing around the world, even though the coastline naturally fluctuates, Larissa Naylor, professor of geomorphology and environmental geography at the University of Glasgow, told FRANCE 24. “The issue is that we’ve fixed the coast and we’ve fixed assets at the coast. Around Europe we’ve got hotels, roads, houses, railways along a boundary that is fluid.”
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https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20211107-coastal-erosion-the-climate-challenge-wearing-away-at-europe-s-shores