Climate Change Induced Coastal Hazards In Australia

A direct impact of climate change is sea-level rise. Sea levels are expected to rise between 0.2 and 0.86 metres from 2000 to 2100. Sea levels are rising due to ice caps melting and the fact that the sea is being warmed and then expanding. (Carrington, 2017). The sea levels around the UK have risen by approximately ten centimetres in the past 100 years. So far there hasn’t been any major/severe damage to coastal areas in the UK, however, if sea level continues to rise at the rate it is currently increasing at or faster, then there will be dramatic changes

Sea level rise caused by global warming poses clear threats to coastal populations in Connecticut. In fact, models have depicted that the rate of global sea level rise could elevate by two to five times by the end of this century, and this will affect the health of residents and the state’s economy due to increase the impacts of coastal storms in urban areas (Gornitz et al., 2004). Reports have shown that Connecticut’s coastline has historically been at risk due to coastal storms (Frumhoff et al., 2007). For instance, a 2007 synthesis report of Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment (NECIA) suggested that there might be an increase in the number of winter storms received in coastal Connecticut (particularly late in the winter). Also, in the

Climate Change is the change in climate patterns and this problem has been weighing around us since the 20th century. “The scientific consensus reached in 2007 by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is that warming of the Earth’s climate system is unequivocally taking place and that such warming will affect sea levels" (Coastal Council, section 1). The problem with climate change

Simply put, humans can adapt to environmental or planetary changes by either changing themselves, changing the way they interact with the environment, or change the environment itself. However, in order to efficiently respond to such events, the public must be alert to the issue, trust their information source, perceive the risk real, and garner consensus surrounding the problem and potential solutions. Responding and adapting to environment changes or disasters seems to most effectively start at the community level and expands outward to the town, county, state and national level.

In the sports article, “Surfers worry climate change is hitting their waves” by San Jose Mercury News states that global climate change is threatening many of the best surf spots worldwide. They state that as the swells get closer and closer to the coast that the waves are affected by the local winds. They predicted that the warmer weather could melt the polar ice and rise the sea levels along the Northern California Coast. They also stated that by 2100 the storms could shift causing the waves to move parallel along the coast instead of heading straight towards us. Lastly, the state that as the sea level rises that the waves wont break no more. Overall, they are informing us that as climate change keeps on getting worse that it might even affect

The overview of vulnerabilities isn’t fully addressed, the climate change is resulting in significant impacts to Massachusetts coastline and ocean waters. The coast is modestly changing in temperature having an impact on sensitive ecosystems, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem-based economies, based off fisheries, tourism, and recreation. Sea level will impact development, infrastructure and natural systems from erosion and storm damage. Impacts may also include loss of life, extensive property damage, destruction of public infrastructure; releasing of sewage, oil,debris, and other contaminants; and loss of commercial and marine-related businesses critical to local,regional, and state economies. Also, areas such as coastal salt marshes,barrier

Further, analyze and understand the adequacy of the measures taken to adapt future climate change induced hazard risks. I have developed my capacity by doing the Masters’ Degrees in Disaster Management and Emergency Management with a research work.

The rising temperatures of global warming has initiated the melting of ice sheets, contributing to global sea-level rise. Sea levels are expected to rise more than a metre beyond existing ‘stable’ tidal range positions, resulting in new inundation of land and shifts in shorelines. Inundation and coastal instability because of erosion, exaggerated by the extreme weather events caused by climate change, is a key risk for coastal areas such as the Gold Coast.

Leading scientists advise climate change will cause increases to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Rising sea levels pose a significant risk to coastal communities, while the world’s oceans could become too acidic to support coral reefs and other calcifying marine organisms.

Data obtained by assessing social vulnerability must be implemented within each phase of the emergency management process; mitigation, response, and recovery. First, to effectively respond and recover from incidents emergency management agencies must concentrate on the mitigation phase to prevent incidents from happening in the first place. This is achieved through a thorough hazard/vulnerability analysis (HVA). This type of analysis assesses the risk of physical, economic, and social vulnerability within all communities of a given jurisdiction (Lindell et al., 2006, p. 165). Additionally, the basis of the HVA allows emergency managers to effectively plan for disaster by creating pre-planned responses to disasters (rather than improvised response) and staging resources to locations with the highest probability of risk; ultimately contributing to the mitigation and response phases.

In the climate disruption community, the term vulnerability is utilized as an operation to determine consequences, types, and percentages of climate threats to environments. Even more, the term vulnerability includes system exposure, its responsiveness, and capacity to adjust to change. The IPCC SPM report breaks vulnerabilities into regions including Africa, Asia, and North America. In North America, vulnerability associated risks include wildfire-induced loss, public health issues related to heat and morbitity, water quality, various types of flooding, and trends in weather patterns. Since the function of vulnerability includes adaptation issues and prospects, this relm of exposure encompasses agroforestry, urban drainage, outside worker

Therefore the mechanism applied should include human vulnerability analysis and mapping, combined with more quantitative risk surveys and geo physical assessment, On the contrary, the hazard based approach has its implicit weaknesses. For example, it has neglected environmental quality in the past and was hesitant in recognizing the role of global attributes such as climate change and poverty in raising the human vulnerability. In the present time the priority is to integrate these differences across the hazard related disciplines in order to form a safer and more secure environment for all.

The interaction between the physical and human elements of the coastal environment has had a considerable effect on the various coastal zones in Australia and specific strategic events responses of individuals, groups and governments. Australia has over 37 000 kilometres of coastline, 11 000 beaches and thousands of coastal landforms. Approximately 85% of Australia’s population live within 50 km of the coast. The coast is where the ocean meets the land and the coastal zone comprises of many different environments including rivers, bays, wetlands, beaches, coral reefs, estuaries and the continental shelf. Due to rapid urbanisation and development and other human and physical processes such as erosion Australia’s coastline, especially over the last 200 years, has been greatly disrupted. Individuals, groups and government bodies need to manage these issues in order to achieve a sustainable and equitable management strategies within our coastal zone.

In the following essay, I will explore cumulative impacts on the terrestrial and marine environment resulting from groundwater use, mining and agricultural practices in the Australian context. Using examples from the Murray Darling Basin, Bowen Basin, the Fitzroy River and the Great Barrier Reef, I will

We will use Cardona et al.’s (2012) approach to risk where we will assess risk using three main components: hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. In our framework, OA is the hazard. Exposure refers to marine resources that are directly important to communities in the Gulf Coast. Vulnerability is made up of two dimensions: sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The total disaster risk is based on the intersection of the hazard, the assets exposed to the hazard, and a system’s vulnerability to the hazard (Figure 1). In our study, OA is the environmental hazard and it is projected to change over time.