Coastal management strategies in the age of climate change
Coastal decision-makers must move away from considering physical and
economic forces in isolation to fully recognise and explain changes to
coastlines, according to new research from Cardiff University.
The coastlines where we live, work and play have long been altered by
people, but now researchers have investigated why developed coastlines
change over time in ways that are fundamentally different from their
undeveloped, natural counterparts.
Published in the journal Geomorphology, the research sets the scene for
a new approach to understanding these changes in the context of climate
change.
The paper explains that the processes that change the shape of natural
coastlines are physical; storms and waves move sediments around, eroding
the shoreline in some places and building it out in others.
In contrast, the dominant processes that change the shape of developed
coasts, researchers state, are economic – especially where shorelines
are actively modified by hard sea defences and additional sand brought
in to compensate for beach erosion.
The authors say that these interventions, which are largely linked to
economics of coastal property value and tourism, affect how natural
physical processes – especially those driven by waves and storms –
interact with the coastline itself.
The research states that developed coastal zones can therefore be
described as “coupled systems” governed by reciprocal relationships
between physical and economic forces.
With research in this area tending to look at these forces in
isolation, Dr Eli Lazarus from Cardiff University and his colleagues
explain the need to bring them together in order to advance our
understanding of coastal management in the context of future climate
change.
Dr Lazarus, lead researcher from Cardiff University’s School of Earth
and Ocean Sciences, said: "Understanding the dynamics of developed
coastlines is essential for improved assessment of risk, for better
integrated coastal management, and for effective adaptation to
environmental changes driven by climate change.
"Through this work we are laying out a framework for how to convert
information about decision-making processes into new models of developed
coastline dynamics."
Lazarus's coauthors include researchers from the British Geological
Survey, Duke University, and the Center for Sustainability at Saint
Louis University. The team makes a series of recommendations for future
research on developed coastlines:
* Gain insight into the social processes of coastal decision-makers
(which extends into the disciplines of decision scientists,
psychologists, and economists);
* Quantify how human modifications to coastal shape and natural sediment
budgets affect coastal physical change over large spatial scales and
long time scales
* Improve knowledge exchange and co-production between scientists and
practitioners.
Coastal erosion image via Shutterstock.
http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/research/trends/126416-adapting-to-climate-change-requires-coastal-management-rethink.html
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