Coasts 20 Markers Flashcards
(3 cards)
Without hard engineering there will be little future for coastal communities (20)
Theme 1= hard engineering
HE is important for developed countries in order to prevent mass flooding of cities, which are financial hubs and resident to millions of people.
E.g. Thames barrier which consists of sea walls and embankments play a crucial rule in protecting London from tidal surges.
Similarly, in the low lying country of Holland, witout the Rotterdam wall, the whole country will be susceptible to mass flooding.
TIS as these walls safeguard entire cities and countries from the threat of rising eustatic sea levels, which has been exacerbated by CC, allowing the country to continue to function as a vital city in a low lying region.
Howver, with one intervention, it can starve coasts downstream, contributing to positive feedback system, where one end of the coast loses out on sediment, narrowing the beach, meaning less wave energy is absorbed by the beach and is instead absorbed by the back shore of the littoral zone, where the cliffs are, meaning more homes r lost which brings about social and econmic impacts to a community.
Without HE there will be little future for coastal commmunites
Theme 2= hard engineering does not guarantee a future for coastal communities in LEDCs
Low lying atolls, can’t afford the econmic and engineering costs of HE e.g. Maldives and tuvulu.
Climate refugees, they opt for more sustainable approaches to ensure a future for coastal communities such as protecting to enhance resilience to strom surges and RSL whci can decrease the height of the wave up to 66%
Howver, this has proven to be weak as still their land is still retreating 1.5 metres a year e.g. tepuka savilivl atoll is gone, as many more local flee to NZ and Australia to escape RSL. Thereore, it could be argued that with it hard engineering coastal communities have no chance.
Without HE there will be little future for coastal communities
Theme 3- soft engineering
Managed retreat can offer more substances long term solutions.
E.g. abbots hall farm deliberately allowed 200 hectares of low lying farmland to flood which created salt marshes and mudflats which act as natural barriers to absorb wave energy
TIS as instead of relying on hold the line, where the cost of protection exceeds econmic benefits, soft engineering works well w natural environment to achieve long term resilience against CC and coastal flooding.
Howver, this is a weak argument as not only does this create social resistance as peoples homes are not priotised over the environment, soft engineering does not work w extreme weather and strom surges, hard engineering does due to its sturdy structure that can deflect wave energy or build up the beach
