The investigation identified up to 1,900 kilometers (30 percent) of England’s coastline where authorities intend to “hold the line” with existing flood barriers.
According to a new study, nearly 200,000 houses and businesses in England could be lost to rising sea levels by the year 2050.
The investigation found up to 1,900 kilometers (30 percent) of England’s coastline where authorities expect to “hold the line” of existing flood defenses, along which some residents may be forced to relocate inland as water levels rise and waves become more intense.
“We are not trying to scare people,” lead author Paul Sayers of the Tyndall Centre at the University of East Anglia stated.
However, the essential “strategic reaction” to sea-level rise “has not been confronted or handled on a national scale,” he said.
We need an open discussion about sea-level rise, which has not been occurring.
The report, published today in the peer-reviewed journal Oceans and Coastal Management, predicted that an additional 160,000 buildings, in addition to the roughly 35,000 already identified, are at risk of coastal flooding.
It states that the number of persons who must be relocated is a question of national policy.
North Somerset, Wyre, Swale, Tendring, Maldon, portions of Suffolk Coastal, North Norfolk, Cornwall, Medway, and Sedgemoor are predicted to be the ten English local governments facing the greatest challenge from increasing sea levels and unlikely to be able to “hold the line” as currently envisaged.
Damages from coastal flooding are anticipated to treble in cost from the current £60 million to around £120 million by the year 2050.
‘Fudged’
Even though sea levels are projected to rise by one meter in England by the end of the 21st century, the immediacy of the danger is “frequently downplayed in coastal policy,” and the discussion stays “framed as a question for future decision-makers only,” according to the research.
“This is an error,” it continued.
It criticized national and local policies that “poor clarity” regarding how to “alter” some stretches of coastline, which might involve removing defenses and relocating structures.
Last week, the head of the Environment Agency sounded the alarm on coastal communities doomed to be engulfed by the sea as a result of climate change.
Starting in 2021, the government has allocated £5.2 billion for flood and coastal defenses, which will cover flood defenses and property protection.
The government is “exploring new techniques to adapt to the effects of coastal erosion,” according to a government spokesperson, and a future study will describe measures to manage the risk of coastal change over the next century.
This will not be simple.
Sea level rise is one of the clearest indicators of climate change, according to Mr. Sayers. And it will continue to grow for the time being regardless of how much we reduce emissions.
The research explored how climate change-induced sea-level rise and the erosion of foreshores by larger waves enhance the danger of coastal flooding.
Some places can be spared by buffering their defenses, but when this is impractical or too costly, people require assistance and financial support to adapt.
The document warns that the transformation of the shoreline “needs clarity of choice today and cannot be deferred to the future”
