Coastal Landscapes and Change EQ4 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the definition of economic losses?

A

Anything that has a finial cost on an individual or a community includes loss of (or damage to) property in the form of homes, businesses, agriculture lands and infrastructure.
Agriculture lands valued at £21,000 per ha

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2
Q

Why are economic losses from erosion localised?

A
  • erosion is incremental with only a small number of properties affected over a long period of time
    -properties at risk loose theur value long before they are destroyed
  • areas with a highly dense population tend to be protected by coastal defences
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3
Q

What are the economic losses from coastal recession?

A
  • economic losses to business if areas become unattractive and depopulated
  • a whole village can lost
  • falling property prices and inability to sell property
  • loss of major assets and the cost of buying a new home
  • an inability to insure against the loss
    E.g. the collapse of the section of coast supporting the South Devon Main Line railways (feb 2014) cost £35 million to repair.
    E.g. Yorkshire laid £1.2 million for funding relocations and demolition for 43 homes
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4
Q

What are the economic losses in Holderness?

A
  • increased costs to the owners of cliff top caravan parks who face moving locations.
  • loss of access to roads, paths and steps down the beach affecting tourism
  • loss of amenity value as the coastline is visually scarred by collapsing roads, abandoned property and warning signs
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5
Q

What is the definition of social consequences?

A

Social coasts are the impact on people, such as the coats of relocation and loss of jobs (which can be quantified) but also includes impacts on health such as stress and worry which are hard to quantify.

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6
Q

What a are examples of social coast due to coastal recession?

A
  • relocation coats
  • break up of communities and loss of friends
  • impacts well-being and mental health (stress)
  • loss of livelihoods (jobs, buinsesses and source of income (tourism))
  • financial problems and job searching inmoacting well-being may lead to stress and divorce
  • losses in amenity values
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7
Q

What is the definition of amenity value?

A

The value in cultural, human well-being and economic in terms of an attractive environment people enjoy being in.

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8
Q

What is an example of losses due to coastal recession being compensated?

A

East Riding of Yorkshire:
Here the coastline is rapidly eroding, learning to massive social, economic and environmental losses.
Between 2010-2012 DEFRA provided the local council with £1.2 million. The money was spend assisting the 43 homes owners wiht relocation and demolitions expenses. (£1000 in relocation expenses do £200 in hardship expenses)
C > it is very limited and very little money

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9
Q

Why does coastal flooding and storm surges led to losses?

A
  • flooding and storm surges are one off events being the communities are unprepared and very vulnerable
  • Flooding tends to be larger in areal extent and therefore involve greater loss
  • storm surges are stronger and so create more damage and destruction
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10
Q

What are the losses form the North Sea flood in Netherlands in 1953? (Developed world)

A

A mid latitude depression moving souht through the North Sea generating a 5m storm surge
- 10% of Dutch farmland flooded
- 40,000 buildings damaged and 10,000 destroyed
- 1800 deaths
C > led to one of the largest coastal engineering projects ever, the Delta Works (Deltawerken) in order to reduce the risk of future storm surges

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11
Q

What were the losses from UK 2013-2014 winter storms? (Developed world)

A

Coastal and other flooding caused by the succession of depressions and their heavy rain and storm surges
- £1 billion in damages over the winter
- 17 deaths

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12
Q

What are the losses from Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines 2013? (Developing world)

A

One of the most powerful tropical storms ever with a 4-5 metre storms surge
- $2 billion in damages centred in Tacloban
- 6300 deaths and 30,000 injuries

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13
Q

What is an example of a hard engineering mega project?

A

Deltawerken:
This is a series of dams and sluice gates that were constructed between the islands that make up Eastern Schelt to control the flow of water. During a storm surge this can be closed to shut the sea out.
- cost $5 billion
- aim was to reduce flood risk in low lying areas and control flow to rivers Rhine, Maas and Scheldt

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14
Q

What are environmental refugees?

A

Communities forced to leave their homes because of natural processes including sudden Ines such as landslide and long term ones such as erosion or rising sea levels.

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15
Q

Why will sea level rise create environmental refugees?

A
  • flooding
  • saltwater encroachment limiting water and offs supply
  • coral bleaching removing natural sea defences and limiting economies (fishing)
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16
Q

What an example of environmental refugees?

A

Tuvalu:
- Tuvalu’s highest point is only 4.5m above sea level with 1-2m above sea level
- rising ocean temperatures bleached the coral reefs removing any natural defences against flooding
- water in limited and salt water encroachment is making farming difficult
- narrow economy based in tourism and fishing causes economic threats
- lack the funding to finance coastal defences.
The future for Tuvalu is that many people will be ice environmental refugees and will have to abandoned the islands

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17
Q

What is hard engineering?

A

Hard engineering involves the construction of man made structures that directly stop or interfer with physical processes to protect the coast.

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18
Q

What are different types of hard engineering?

A
  • rock armour (riprap)
  • groynes
  • sea wall
  • revetments
  • offshore breakwaters
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19
Q

What are the overall advantages of hard engineering?

A
  • it obvious to at risk-people that something is being done to protect them (reduce stress by reassurance)
  • they are very durables and can protect the coastline for long periods of time
  • normally very effective
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20
Q

What are the overall disadvantages to hard engineering?

A
  • very expensive costs as well as ongoing maintenance costs
  • prone to failure
  • coastlines are made visually unattractive
  • needs of coastal ecosystems normally overlooked
  • frequently have consequences further down the coastlines due to interference with sediment cells.
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21
Q

What is a groyne?

A

Vertical stone or timber fences build at 90 degrees to the coast, spaced along a beach. There purpose is to prevent longshore movement of sediment as econourage depositions building a wider higher beach.

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22
Q

What are the impacts of groynes of physical processes?

A
  • create areas of deposition and beach accretion
  • prevention against longshore drift creates sediment starvation and increase erosion down the coastline.
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23
Q

What are rock armour (riprap) and their purpose?

A

This are large igneous or metamorphic rock boulders, weighing serval tones. They are along the base of coastlines to break up and dissipate wave energy and protect the coast from undercutting and scour.

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24
Q

What impacts to rock armour have on physical process?

A
  • reduce wave energy
  • sediment is deposited between rocks
  • may become vegetated overtime
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25
Q

What is rock breakwater and its purpose?

A

Rock breakwater are large igneous or metamorphic rocks placed offshore. This forces the waves to break offshore rather than at the coast reducing wave energy and erosive force.

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26
Q

What impacts to rock breakwater have on physical process?

A
  • deposition encouraged between breakwater and beach
  • can interfere with longshore drift (sediment starvation)
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27
Q

What is a sea wall and its purpose?

A

A sea wall is a concrete wall containing steel reinforcements and deep piled fountains (can be steped). It acts as a physics barrier against erosion and they are designed to dissipate wave energy .

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28
Q

What impacts do a sea wall have on physical process?

A
  • destruction of the natural cliff face and foreshore environment
  • if reflective can reduce beach volume
29
Q

What are revetments and what is their purpose?

A

Revetments are stone, timber of interlocking concrete sloping structures which are preamble. They absorb waves energy and rescue swash distance by encouraging deposition. Main aim is to reduce erosion on dune faces and mud banks.

30
Q

What impacts do revetments have on physical process?

A
  • reduce wave power
  • can encourage depositions
  • may become vegetated
31
Q

What is soft engineering?

A

Soft engineering is management processes that attempts to work with nature and the natural processes to reduce coastal erosion and flood risk. It is less obvious and intrusive at the coast.

32
Q

What are examples of soft engineering approaches?

A
  • beach nourishment
  • cliff regrading and drainage
  • dune stabilisation
33
Q

What is beach nourishment?

A

This is the process of artificially replenishing the sediment on a beach. This can ranges form a few truckloads of multimillion Lund schemes.

34
Q

Why is beach nourishment done?

A
  • to replace sediment lost by erosion
  • to enlarge the beach so that wave a energy is dissipated and reduce wave erosion
  • increase amenity value of beach (doesn’t affect aesthetically)
  • works with natural processes so doesn’t have effect down the coast
35
Q

What are the downfalls of beach nourishment?

A
  • ongoing costs are high as sediment would need it be replaced very frequently
  • a sustainable source of sediment is needed so the sediment cell is not impacted
  • high cost for transportation and dredging of the sediments (£20 million per km of beach)
36
Q

What is cliff stabilisation (regrading and drainage)?

A

Cliff stabilisation involves reducing the cliff slope angle, re-vegetating and draining the pores of the rock (reducing water pressure) . This increases stability and reduces surface erosion resulting is a lower risk of mass movement and erosion.

37
Q

What are the downfalls of cliff stabilisation?

A
  • high cost (£1 million per 100m)
  • can be create noise pollution during construction
38
Q

What is dune stabilisation?

A

This is stabilising dune systems using dune fencing (reduces wind speed and footfall) and re vegetating (reduce wind and water erosion). It aims to reduce wind and water erosion and allow the sand dunes to act as a natural coastal defence and protect ecosystems. These are normally very low cost schemes.

39
Q

Why are dunes at risk from high erosion?

A

Sand dunes are made from unconsolidated material which means
- major storms and storm surges can breach dune systems causing rapid and significant erosion
- dunes are prone to overgrazing by animals stripping them of vegetation and exposing bare sand
- human recreation and tourism’s can trample and kill vegetation.

40
Q

What is sustainable coastal management?

A

Managing the wider coastal zones in terms of people and their economic livelihoods, social and cultural well-being and safety from coastal hazards as well as minimising environmental and ecological impacts.

41
Q

What future threats threaten coastal communities?

A
  • rising sea levels (but uncertainty about the scale and timing of the rise)
  • increased frequency of storms and the possibility of increased erosion and flooding
    To cope with these threats communities need to adapt and employ sustainable management to ensure the well-being of people and coastal communities.
42
Q

What are examples of sustainable coastal management?

A

-managing natural resources
- managing flood and erosion risk where possible or relocating to safe areas
- creating alternative livelihoods before existing Ines lost
- adapting to sea level rise by relocating, alternative building methods and water supplies
- educating communities to understand why change is needed and how to adapt
- monitoring coastal change

43
Q

Why does sustainable management cause some conflicts?

A
  • coastal natural resources may have to be used less in order to maintain them meaning income may be lost
  • relocation may be needed were engineering options are costly or not feasible
  • future trend may change and plans need or be adaptable and always changing
  • engineering cannot protect everyone everywhere and may led of conflict on who’s getting them.m
44
Q

What is an example of sustainable coastal management?

A

Maldives:
- the organisation of mangrove for the future (MFF) is working with Maldivian communities to educate them in the importance of maintaining mangrove seals as natural defence against erosion and flooding
- the global environmental facility has provided small grants to islanders to help them develop sustainable and organic farming as an alternative to income and food from coral reef fishing
- Japanese government has funded mangrove nurseries

45
Q

How has coastal management in the Maldives led to conflict?

A
  • money spend protecting the capital city Malé and creating new artificial islands (Hulmalé) means that isolated islands are ignored.
  • sustainable management of traditional income sources and resources is overlooked in favour of protecting urban and tourism development.
46
Q

What is the definition of coastal conflict?

A

The disagreement over how the coast should be protected from threats and which areas shoulda be protected. Often exits between different stakeholders.

47
Q

What is ICZM?

A

Integrated coastal zone management is coastal management planning over the long term. It means adopting a joined-up apprehend across different stakeholders in order to harmonise policies and decision making.

48
Q

What are the key characteristics of the ICMZ?

A
  • the entire coastal zone is managed not just the narrow zone were erosion is actively happening.
  • it recognises the importance of the coastal zone to people’s livelihoods (a large number of people work and live in the coast)
  • recognises that management of the coast must be sustainable, meaning economic development has to take place along side maintaining the environment.
49
Q

How does the ICZM work?

A

ICZM works using the concept of littoral/sediment cells. The coastline can be divided up into littoral cells and each cell is managed at an integrated unit. England and Wales is divided up into 11 sediment cells.

50
Q

What is a littoral cell?

A

An areas of the coastline that contains a sediment source, transport paths and sinks.

51
Q

What are the benefits of ICZM?

A
  • plant for long term changes
  • involves all stakeholders (all have a say in the policy’s)
  • uses adaptive management in stead if mitigating
  • try’s to work with natural processes
52
Q

What is an example of a developing county using ICZM?

A

The Mediterranean is increasingly managed using ICZM. With a ICZM protocol between 14 Mediterranean countries to manage the sea and its coastline in an integrated way was signed in 2008.

53
Q

What is a shoreline management plan?

A

Littoral cells are managed as a single unit or a subunit. In both cases SMP is used with its areas divided in subdivisions and the best type of management is decided for each area.

54
Q

What are the four types of shoreline management?

A
  • no active intervention
  • managed retreat
  • hold the line
  • advance the line
55
Q

What is involved in ‘no active intervention’?

A

No investment in defending against flooding or erosion whether or not coastal defences have existed previously. The coastline is allowed to eroded inland and flood.

56
Q

What is involved in ‘managed retreat’?

A

Allowing the coastline to move naturally but manage the process to direct in certain areas.

57
Q

What is involved with ‘hold the line’?

A

Build or maintain coastal defence so that the position of the shoreline remains the same over time.

58
Q

What is involved with ‘advance the line’?

A

Building new sea defences and extending the coastline out to sea. Examples include beach nourishment and land reclaim.

59
Q

What factors affect the policy implemented as a coastlines?

A
  • economic value of the assets (land)
  • the feasibility (it may not be possible to hold the line for mobile depositional features)
  • cultural and ecological values Kc the land (historical sites)
  • community pressure (e.g. Mappleton, Holderness had a vocal local campaign resulting in protection of £2 million)
  • CBA
  • EIA
60
Q

What is a cost-benefit analysis?

A

CBA is used to help decide if defending the coastline from erosion and flooding is economically justifiable. Is input worth the output.
E.g. Happisburgh, Norfolk policy was ‘no active intervention’ as defending the village would impact the wider coast.

61
Q

What is the Environmental Impact Assessment?

A

The EIA is done to assess the short term impacts in the coastal environment and the long term impacts of building nephew sea defences or changing policy. It assesses water movement, water quality, changes to flora and fauna and wider environmental impacts.

62
Q

What is an examples of an implemented SMP?

A

Hornsea and Mappleton:
Hornsea >
The policy decision is ‘hold the line’ as
- regional economic centres with high population
- important historical sites
- Contains are very important lake habitats for birds (specific protection areas and site of special scientific interest)
Mappleton >
Policy is no active interventions as economic case very marginal.
- 400m of land could be lost by 2105
- by 2055 200 ha of farmland and 32 properties likely to be lost.

63
Q

What is outflanking?

A

Occurs when erosion gets behind coastal defences at the points were they stop, resulting in rapid erosion inland and undermining of defences.

64
Q

What is a ‘winners’ in coastal management?

A

People who gain from a decision either economically (safe property), environmentally (habitats conserved) or socially (communities remain in place).

65
Q

What is a ‘loser’ in coastal management?

A

People who are likely to lose property their businesses or job, be forced to move or see the coastline be ‘concreted over’ (environmental negative)

66
Q

Why can coastal conflict be seen as ‘inevitable’?

A
  • coastal mangers produce plans for entire SMP areas so some areas may be protected and others not
  • local council and government (DEFRA) have limited resources meaning not all places can be protected.
  • communities have strong attachment to a lead
  • businesses risk losing customers due to relocation or reduction in tourism.
67
Q

What an example of coastal management not leading to conflict?

A

The Blackwater Estuary:
The blackwater estuary in Essex is an area of tidal salt marsh and low lying farmland prone to flooding and coastal erosion. Traditionally protected by hard engineering but due to rising sea levels and greater erosion the hard engineering is not sustainable due to ‘coastal squeezing’. The solution was radical with Essex wildlife purchased Abbots Hall fame and a ‘managed retreat’ was put into place. Conflict didn’t occur as
- abbots Hall farm owners received market value for the threatened farm
- high cost if ‘hold the line’ avoided
- additional streams of income form ecotourism and wildlife watching
- now an important bird habitat and fish nursery.
This shows that all stakeholders can be happy even when the most radical choices are made.

68
Q

Why is erosion rapid in developing world?

A

In many parts of the world (Maldives) erosion is rapid as
- upstream damns reduce sediment supply and disrupt sediment cells
- rapid unplanned coastal development
- widespread destruction of mangroves for fuel
- small budget for effective management

69
Q

What are the ‘losers’ of coastal recession in the developing world?

A

The main losers are the poorest people such as farmers and residents who lack a formal title and cannot claim compensation. Also don’t have enough money opportunities for relocation or rebuilding or coastal SMP plans and defences due to poor governance.