{"id":81795,"date":"2022-04-12T03:08:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T03:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/?p=81795"},"modified":"2024-02-23T13:30:20","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T13:30:20","slug":"six-changing-coastlines-and-how-climate-change-could-affect-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/news\/six-changing-coastlines-and-how-climate-change-could-affect-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Six changing coastlines and how climate change could affect them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In our last post, we looked at the\u00a0coastline of Great Britain<\/a>, how it is changing and what important factors we should consider in terms of natural hazards, adaptation and resilience. In this article, we visit six key examples of natural environmental importance and explore their potential vulnerability to climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coastline of Great Britain, including its islands, is 31 368 km long, according to the Ordnance Survey (OS), with the mainland making up 17 819 km. Cornwall is the county with the longest coastline (1086 km) followed by Essex (905 km) and Devon (819 km). Our island nation experiences some of the largest tides in the world, with a range of up to 15 m, and a variety of geohazards <\/a>and processes regularly have an impact on the changing coastline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

BGS has mapped the whole of the British coastline and now a new data product, GeoCoast<\/a>, brings a whole range of data together into one package to help inform and interpret our coastal environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spurn Point, East Yorkshire<\/h2>\n\n\n
\"Spurn<\/a>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Information\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

View along the beach at Spurn Point. BGS \u00a9 UKRI.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

\"Expand<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Overview<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Spurn Point is three miles long, forming a natural protection for the Humber estuary and the port of Hull, as well as being an important site for migratory birds and other wildlife. It is an ever-changing environment composed of shingle beach and tidal flat deposits that is highly susceptible to coastal retreat. Formed as a long, narrow spit from deposits moving along the coast carried by currents, it has been breached by storms multiple times, notably in December 2013 by a huge tidal surge, bursting through the narrowest part of the spit and destroying the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A changing climate<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sea-level rise is predicted to completely cut off Spurn Head by 2050, according to modelled UKCP18 climate change scenarios<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n