Climate Change: Current rate of climate change means sandy beaches will disappear – so will your holidays

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Staff Writer - RN1 in Australian News, Environment // 0 Comments

You next beach holiday is under threat from Climate change. Simply put as sea levels rise, beaches disappear. Researchers have modelled how changes over the last few decades in the climate suggest word half of the world’s sandy beaches are at risk of severe erosion and Australia will be the worst affected.

The research published in Nature Climate Change states that Half of the world’s beaches, many of which are in densely populated areas, could disappear by the end of the century under current trends of climate change and sea level rise.

*Research shows that due to climate change and rising sea levels Sandy beaches and the holidays will disappear by the end of the century…*

Sandy beaches occupy more than one third of the global coastline and have high socio-economic value. Beaches also provide natural coastal protection from marine storms and cyclones. However, erosion, rising sea levels and changing weather patterns threaten the shoreline, its infrastructure and populations.

Michalis Vousdoukas and colleagues analysed a database of satellite images showing shoreline change from 1984 to 2015. The authors extrapolated historical trends to predict future shoreline dynamics under two different climate change scenarios. They determined the ambient shoreline change, driven by physical factors (geological or anthropogenic) and shoreline retreat due to sea level rise. They also examined how erosion from storms may change under climate change and impact shorelines.

The results of these analyses indicate that around 50% of the world’s sandy beaches are at risk of severe erosion. The risk for erosion is particularly high in certain countries under both climate scenarios, including The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, where over 60% of sandy coastline may be lost. When the total length of sandy beach projected to be lost is analysed, Australia would be the worst affected with nearly 12,000 km at risk. Canada, Chile, Mexico, China and the United States would also be greatly affected. Additional research could further improve these estimates, which may be impacted by human intervention.