Coastal Intervention Can Not Limit The Risks Essay Flashcards
Introduction - Example of natural processes - Risk of erosion - partially agree
There is a number of natural processes operating along the coastline to include erosion, wave action, transportation, long-shore drift etc. With rising sea levels due to climate change, there is a risk of high erosion rates in many coastal areas. I partially agree with the statement, as there is still a number of soft and hard engineering approaches along with holistic approach to coastal management that could be implemented in the future to prevent or mitigate the risks to coastal communities.
Paragraph 1 point disagree - hard-engineering strategies tor deuce rates of erosion
High-energy coastlines are at risk of high erosion rates due to the climate change and consequents eustatic sea level change. Hard-engineering strategies can be implemented to manage the risk and prevent coastline retreat, what can pose a threat to coastline communities, as it can be seen on the example of Mappleton (boulder clay cliffs, strong waves, narrow beaches, arctic fetch – high erosion rates).
Paragraph 1 - AO1 -Mappleton
In 1990, Mappleton was under threat from loosing 30 houses and its main road.
The £2 million project created two large rock groynes to trap materials that are carried in the waves during longshore drift. In addition to this, a revetment consisting of large granite boulders has been constructed.
At Great Cobden 3 km to the south of Mappleton there are worrying signs of rapid erosion of beaches, cliffs and farm buildings, which may be linked to Mappleton’s growing beach.
Evaluation paragraph 1 - effect of scheme implemented in Mappleton further down the coast
Hard-engineering strategies implemented in Mappleton were successful in halting the erosion and consequent cliff retreat. To the South of Mappleton there are signs of higher erosion rates, this presents a serious risk to local coastal communities and undermines the extent to which hard-engineering strategies can be effective in reducing the risks associated with further eustatic sea level change.
Paragraph 2 - Agree - island communities that are at highest risk and are not protected
Nevertheless, some coastal locations such as Kiribati or Maldives are at very high risk of further eustatic sea level change and thermal expansion as their existence is under threat. In many cases it is the combination of mitigation and even adaption strategies that are implemented to protect coastal communities. Kiribati is predicted to be the first state to fall a victim of climate change and is predicted to be fully submerge in 21st century. 50,000 mangroves were planted to mitigate the risk, and many adaptation strategies were implemented such as migration, reallocation of villages inland. Nevertheless Tebunginako village which consisted of more than 100 homes and was reallocated 50m inland 15 years ago, at high tide is today flooded by sea water. This significantly undermines the extent to which human action can halt natural processes operating on the coastline and preserve coastal communities.
AO1 - paragraph 2 - Kiribati population, elevation, rate of sea level rise
The estimated population of the Republic of Kiribati was 112,850 with 21 out of 33 islands inhabited.
32 islands charge an average height of just 2m above sea level.
From 1993 to 2003 the average rate of sea level rise is 3.1 millimetres per year.
Tourism provide more than one-fifth of GDP.
Paragraph 2 - evaluation - failure to implement strategies to reduce the flooding effects
Such strategies as construction of sea defenses and floating platforms were discussed to mitigate the consequences of sea level rise. Nevertheless, they had a high financial cost of $ 2 billion (10 times Kiribati’s GDP), what led to them not being implemented.
Paragraph 3 - point - Diasgree- Amsterdam successful protection from rising sea levels
On the other hand, there are examples of successful protection of the coastline from flooding, such as Amsterdam. The rising sea level caused and causes local coastal erosion and sediment deposits in mudflats of the North Sea. The Dutch look beyond the borders of their country and seek to achieve an integrative coastal management in co-operation with other EU Member States. Without any doubt the Netherlands will experience potential impacts by rising sea levels, but the presently existing infrastructure provides already a high protection level and can be further enhanced in order to meet future demands.
AO1 - paragraph 3 - Netherlands - elevation, expected sea level rise, dykes in Amsterdam
One quarter of the Netherlands’ total territory lies below sea level.
Without dykes, this part of the country would be permanently flooded and more than 60% of this area with its 10 millions inhabitants would be threatened by storm surges.
Recent studies expect the sea level to rise by 20 to 110 centimeters by 2100.
Since the 11th century, dykes have been constructed along the rivers
Rhine, Maas and Waal in order to protect the neighbouring regions.
Paragraph 3 - evaluation - technical and financial capacities of other coastlines to implement strategies as effective as in Amsterdam
Not every coastline has technical and financial capacities that are available for management of the Netherlands coastline. Such as the 5 billion Euros that were spent on the “Delta Plan” designed to protect the Southwest coast. This limits the extent to which such type of coastal management strategy can be successfully implemented along other coastlines to prevent and minimise risk associated with future sea level rise.
Conclusion
There are numerous coastal management strategies that could be implemented to ensure safety of coastal communities. Nevertheless, they tend to be only to an extent effective in practice due to a number of limitations. There are examples of successful implementations of coastal management strategies which were effective in protecting the coastline, such as the Netherlands where combination of holistic approach and hard-engineering strategies with technological advancements are successful in protecting the coastline. Nevertheless, the main limitation of such an approach is the financial resources needed to implement these strategies. As it was seen on the Kiribati example, due to the limited financial resources, adaptation strategies were implemented to protect coastal communities. Nevertheless, they proved to be ineffective over time as currently coastal communities face the same challenges as 15 years ago. This significantly undermines the extent to which human intervention into coastal management can prevent coastal areas from flooding. Many strategies can be implemented locally to protect the coastlines as for example in Mappleton, nevertheless it may effect coastal zones further south. Therefore, human intervention in coastal management can be useful in eliminating the risks for coastal communities associated with future sea level rise, nevertheless the extent to which it can be successful is often limited to financial resources available .
