Coping with Coastal Change

Abstract

The coastal zone is one of the most dynamic environments on our planet and is much affected by global change, especially sea-level rise. Coastal environments harbour valuable ecosystems, but they are also hugely important from a societal point of view. This book, which draws on the expertise of 21 leading international coastal scientists, represents an up-to-date account of coastal environments and past, present and future impacts of global change. The first chapter of the book outlines key principles that underpin coastal systems and their behaviour. This is followed by a discussion of key processes, including sea level change, sedimentation, storms, waves and tides, that drive coastal change. The main part of the book consists of a discussion of the main coastal environments (beaches, dunes, barriers, salt marshes, tidal flats, estuaries, coral reefs, deltas, rocky and glaciated coasts and coastal groundwater), and how these are affected by global change. The final chapter highlights strategies for coping with coastal change. This chapter focusses on how to cope with coastal change and its implications. There are two major types of response: (1) Mitigation represents source control of drivers, such as greenhouse gas emissions and groundwater withdrawal (leading to artificial subsidence). (2) Adaptation refers to behavioural changes that range from individual actions through to collective coastal management policy, such as upgraded defence systems, warning systems and land management approaches. Thus, mitigation addresses the causes of coastal change, whereas adaptation deals with the consequences. This chapter is structured as follows. First, the different drivers of coastal change are briefly reviewed.Then the impacts of coastal change are briefly considered from a physical and a socio-economic perspective, including drawing on experience from locations of rapid change, such as deltas and subsiding cities, and considering direct and indirect impacts. This is followed by a discussion of the responses to the challenges of coastal change, with an emphasis on adaptation, including its implications for coastal zone management. This includes consideration of valuation methods and decision analysis approaches.