Projected Sea Level Rises Will Chew Up, Spit Out Sydney's Famous Beaches - Reuters

[hatrack]

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Rising sea levels as a result of climate change will erode Sydney's iconic beaches by 2050, with some at risk of disappearing, and threaten beachfront homes and commercial properties, a new climate change study said. Sea levels along Sydney's coast are expected to rise by up to 40 cm above 1990 levels by 2050 and by 90 cm by 2100, with each one centimeter of rise resulting in one meter of erosion on low-lying beaches, said the Sydney climate change impact report.

"The Sydney region has a heavy density of residential and commercial beachfront developments that may be threatened by either ocean inundation or sea level rise-induced recession," said the report by the NSW Department of Climate Change. "Rising sea levels may exacerbate flood risk in coastal rivers," said the report received on Wednesday.

The report said further study was needed to determine the extent of coastal erosion in particular locations. But low-lying Sydney beaches such as Collaroy and Narrabeen, which have already been severely eroded by storm seas, and Dee Why and Curl Curl, are most at risk.

Beaches which have a hard promenade, such as Manly, Bondi and Coogee, will shrink as sand is washed away and may need sand deposits in order to survive in further decades. "In general we expect a recession of the coastline of a sandy beach of about one meter for every centimeter rise in sea level," said Simon Smith, deputy director-general with the department.

EDIT

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE49S1EZ20081029?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews

[Systematic Chaos]

1. Sorry, but I think they screwed up on their units of measurement.

"Sea levels along Sydney's coast are expected to rise by up to 40 cm above 1990 levels by 2050 and by 90 cm by 2100...."

That should probably at the very least read 40 in and 90 in.

:(

[XemaSab]

2. Chewing on sand is no fun

:(