Missing your coastal fix? Many of us and our descendants will have to get used to it, if climate change isn’t kept in check, according to a new report from the University of New South Wales.
The report published in Nature Climate Change says that the world could lose almost half of its sandy beaches by the year 2100 under a 4-degree Celsius global temperature rise (from pre-industrial levels). If temperature increases were limited to 2.5 degrees, beach erosion would fall about a third from the worst-case scenario.
Sandy beaches occupy more than one-third of the world’s coastline and are key in relation to recreation, tourism and ecosystem services. The report author says that these areas, would be eroded by between 40 and 250 metres under the worst-case scenario, with no physical limits such as sea walls. The effect would be more dramatic the further we get into this century, and would continue well into the 2100s.
You can find the full report here.