Coasts are particularly sensitive to climate change, because they are attacked
from both sides: from the ocean via
- storms
- sea-level rise
- processes of sediment transport
And from the land via
- rivers that provide sediment
- geochemical pathways for nutrients and pollutants
Coastal vulnerability is highlighted by the demands that society places on this part of our landscape, and human behaviour is as much part of the response to climate change as are geological processes. In order to understand how coasts respond to climate change, we need to understand how natural and human processes combine. We must also understand how coasts are currently responding to external and internal drivers over the recent geological past. The climate change team investigates both case-studies and general processes in a variety of environments that allow us to predict future changes to coastlines as our climate changes.
Contact Dr Chris Vane for more information.
