Australia could be the hardest hit country, with nearly 15,000 km of sandy beaches wiped off the map within 80 years, according to a study.
Only 80 years old. Climate change and rising sea levels could wipe out half of the world’s sandy beaches by 2100, study published in the journal Monday, March 2 Nature Climate Change (in English). Even if humanity greatly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, more than a third of sandy coastlines will remain threatened, according to this study.
Sandy beaches occupy more than a third of the world’s coastlines and are often found in densely populated regions. They are threatened by erosion due to new constructions, rising sea levels and storms. Their disappearance would have an impact for tourist activities, but not only. “Apart from tourism, sandy beaches often offer the primary mechanism of protection against storms and floods, and without them the impacts of extreme weather events are likely to be stronger”, warns the director of the study, Michalis Vousdoukas, researcher at the Joint Research Center of the European Commission.
Australia could be the hardest hit country, with nearly 15,000 km of sandy beaches wiped off the map within 80 years, ahead of Canada, Chile and the United States. Mexico, China, Russia, Argentina, India and Brazil are also among the frontline countries.
Scientists have worked from two scenarios, that of the “worst” where greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate, or another scenario where global warming is limited to 3 ° C, a level however high. In the worst-case scenario, 49.5% of the sandy beaches would disappear, or approximately 132,000 km of coastline. In the other case, around 95,000 km would be affected.
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