Climate change causes Britain to shrink, some coastal communities “swallowed”

Mr. James Bevan, CEO of EA, said, Climate Change meaning “some of our communities just can’t stay where they are”.

Mr Bevan said at the Flood and Coastal Conference in Telford on June 7: “While we can come back safely and rebuild better after the floods hit the rivers, there is no the return to land that coastal erosion has taken away, or ink seawater rising has caused land to be permanently or permanently swallowed up by sea water”.

According to Mr Bevan, it is “too early to determine when exactly which communities are likely to be displaced”, but the Welsh village of Fairbourne has been told they will have to move because Gywnedd Council cannot can maintain flood protection indefinitely.

Meanwhile, the lowland Fens in the East Englandwhich accounts for 7% of the country’s agricultural output, is already partially below sea level.

Mr Bevan reassured that “no one is forced to leave home against their will”, but “we need to start the conversation about all of this now”.

(Photo: Wales News Service)

Jim Hall, professor of climate and environmental risk at the University of Oxford, calls for “honest conversations” in coastal communities about the future and strategic approaches to sustainable coastal management. steady.

According to the EA’s Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategic Roadmap, by 2026 one in six people in the UK is at risk from rain or coastal flooding. And one million people are expected to experience coastal flooding annually by the end of the 21st century.

“The severity of these floods is getting worse and worse, and these are exactly what scientists predict,” Bevan warned.

Sea levels will continue to rise in some areas beyond our ability to adapt, the researchers warn.

A recent report by the IPCC (United Nations international group of climate scientists) predicts that damage from coastal flooding in Europe will increase by at least 10 times by the end of this century, even by more so if we don’t change our way of life.

EA is working to improve flood risk assessments and mapping, as well as information on investment decisions. £150 million is invested in 25 innovative new projects to address the threat of flooding and climate change in coastal areas.