Sinking coastsGovernments Mull “Managed Retreat” of Coastal Towns Before Rising Seas Claim Them
More and more governments around the world are advised by experts to prepare to make a “managed retreat” from coasts as sea levels rise because of climate change. Scientists say that a decision to leave the coasts should not be “seen largely as a last resort, a failure to adapt, or a one-time emergency action.” Rather, it should be viewed as an opportunity to build better communities away from the rising waters.
More and more governments around the world are advised by experts to prepare to make a “managed retreat” from coasts as sea levels rise because of climate change.
Researchers said that the sacrifice of seaside towns and cites was inevitable. “We can do that the hard way, by fighting for every inch and losing lives and dollars in the meantime,” said A. R. Siders, an environmental fellow at Harvard University. “Or we can do it willingly and thoughtfully and … re-think the way we live.”
Siders is a co-author of a just-published Science article titled “The Case for Strategic and Managed Climate Retreat.”
“The question is no longer whether some communities will retreat — moving people and assets out of harm’s way — but why, where, when and how they will retreat,” the Science paper said.
Scientists say that a decision to leave the coasts should not be “seen largely as a last resort, a failure to adapt, or a one-time emergency action.” Rather, it should be viewed as an opportunity to build better communities away from the rising waters.
The Times reports that scientists say that the many issues involved in moving communities away from the coast should be folded into a new academic field of study.
Emma Howard Boyd, chairwoman of the U.K. Environment Agency, has said that researchers in her agency were studying the question of coastal communities moving, adding that their homes may have to be sacrificed as the seas rise.
In May she said that at least £1 billion a year was needed for traditional flood and coastal defenses, but that “we cannot win a war against water” by merely building higher defenses.
The Environment Agency estimates that more than five million people in England are at risk from flooding or coastal erosion. The agency said that “tough decisions” would have to be made about whether homes would have to be abandoned.
A recent climate change report from the Met Office said the United Kingdom should prepare for wetter winters and more chance of flooding. Sea levels in the U.K. southeast could rise by between 30cm and 115cm by 2100, the report said.
“This may mean potentially moving communities out of harm’s way,” the Environment Agency said.
