Rising sea levels are a “sleeping giant” issue that will put at risk coastal infrastructure worth up to $226bn, a new report has found.
Many Australians live on or near the coast. The major population centres —Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin—are all port cities and much of the nation’s critical infrastructure—transport, commercial, residential, defence—is located along our coastlines. Virtually all of this infrastructure has been designed and built for a stable climate with known ranges of variability. But the climate system is no longer stable. Sea level is rising and so are the risks for our coastal infrastructure. This report explores two of the most serious consequences of rising sea level—the large increase in the frequency of coastal inundation and the recession of ‘soft’ shorelines. Damage caused by increased coastal inundation and recession poses a massive financial burden due to damage and destruction of infrastructure. Coastal inundation and recession also have important implications for health and well-being, coastal ecosystems and communities. The report describes how scientific understanding of sea-level rise has improved significantly over the last decade, and we also explore the challenge of making better decisions about future coastal development. Finally, the report discusses the urgent need to stabilise the climate to reduce the level of risks from coastal flooding in the future
