Scientists have long warn that if rising sea levels as a upshot of planetary warming and melt water ice jacket crown continues , the habitats of both man and creature could be lost to the ocean . Modern research , however , suggests coastal landscapes such as beaches may be more resilient than we give them credit for , provided they have quad to move and migrate landwards . The inquiry , publish in the journalNature Climate Change , alternatively monish that coastal defense structures such as seawalls may trammel the power of beaches to migrate inland and as such more stress should be placed on nature - base solutions to erosion .
The study comes from an international squad of coastal scientist whose work refutes previous claims thathalf of the world ’s beaches could become extinctover the course of the 21st century . This damning forecasting was published to begin with this year in the samejournal , but it is now being meet by a rebutter that concludes that the existing methodology and available data point are n’t sufficient to draw such astray - reaching ending .
The rebutter comes from researchers in the UK , France , South Africa , Australia , New Zealand , and the USA who say that the premature subject area overleap the potential for beach to move in response to rise ocean spirit level , but only where there ’s space . Beaches that are n’t locked in by cliff facial expression or man - made structures are able to migrate landwards as shorelines hideaway , retaining their overall shape and form further inland .
The prediction , if correct , is near news for beach that have such space to bundle up and mix landwards , but beach surrounded by cliff or engineering structures such as seawalls are n’t out of the wood yet . This Modern research State that these environments are likely to disappear as they are locked in and will first know a “ coastal hug ” as they get narrower and narrower before vanish all beneath the waving . The researchers suggest that structures such as groin that mesh these beaches in should be take out , and that beach nourishment through nature - based solutions may be the only way to safeguard their future .
" New method are postulate for predicting impact of sea - level rising slope on the slide , ” said Professor of Coastal Studies at Ulster University and the unexampled newspaper ’s lead author Andrew Cooper in astatement . “ This will require better datasets of coastal sound structure and improved understanding of the mechanism of shoreline reply in give setting . As sea grade uprise , shoreline retirement must , and will , befall but beach will outlive . The openhanded menace to the continued existence of beach is coastal defence structures that limit their ability to migrate . "
