Western Morning news 23rd July 2003

Climate change could spell end for beaches By Nathan Pynn

WESTCOUNTRY beaches and coastal beauty spots could disappear forever within 100 years if the effects of climate change go unchecked, English Nature has warned.

Sand dunes and coastal marshes including the stunning Jurassic Coast and Braunton Burrows could also vanish as greenhouse gases, mostly from transport and industry, continue to overheat the atmosphere. The threat will be debated by international experts at a conference in London next week.

A four-year European project Living with the Sea is being led by English Nature, the Environment Agency and Defra together with EU-based environmental groups. The group calls for the restoration of the natural dynamics of the coast.

It suggests that if "hard engineering" solutions continue along England's coast, the appearance of beaches will be radically altered for future generations, burdening them with spiralling costs for coastal defence, increasing risk to life and property and impoverished coastal wildlife.

Climate change is already affecting the environment, robbing beaches like Weymouth of sand and eroding the extensive natural coastal marshes in the estuaries. Many of the beautiful beaches in South Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are also under threat, according to English Nature.

But if nothing is done, according to Stephan Worrall of the Living with the Sea project, beaches will be starved of sand and other sediments. This would result in a loss not only of holiday beaches, but also areas that provide food and shelter for a huge variety of wildlife. This wildlife is extremely important at a national and European level.

Mr Worrall said: "Two things are certain, we have to protect our natural coastal assets if we want to safeguard our man-made assets, and we have to work with the sea rather than trying to fight nature's unstoppable response to global sea level rise."

He added: "Going with the natural flow, using nature's own defences to soak up wave and storm energy is more effective and cheaper than concrete and steel.

However, to enable these natural processes to occur, we may need to give more breathing room to the natural features in those areas facing coastal squeeze.

"Many homes, businesses and coastal habitats that support huge populations of birds and wildlife are now under threat of flooding and erosion. Rising sea levels and violent storms driven by global climate change will only increase that risk."

Brian Empson, flood defence policy manager at the Environment Agency, added: "As a society we need to shift our thinking from defending against flooding to managing flood risk."

Despite calls from environmental groups to act now before it is too late, Friends of the Earth South West spokesman Mike Birkin believes nothing can save the coast.

"I think we will see parts of the coastline in the South West erode into the sea but this is not necessarily bad because it will protect the land behind it from the waves. It is inevitable that climate change will affect the coastline but there is little we can do about it."