Consequences of Coastal Recession & Flooding (Edexcel A Level Geography)

Economic & Social Losses

• Coastal flooding leads to both economic and social losses

• These losses can be significant particularly in densely populated coastal areas

• This often leads to much higher spending on coastal defences in the densely populated areas due to the cost-benefit analysis calculation

• This can lead to conflict between different stakeholders 

Economic & Social Losses in Developed & Developing Countries

• The economic and social losses countries experience, varies

• The extent of losses often depends on whether a country is developed or developing

• Developed countries tend to face higher economic losses because the homes, businesses and infrastructure are of higher value, due to the quality of materials and technology used

• Developing countries losses, tend to be of a greater magnitude in terms of deaths, injuries and loss of buildings, due to lower wealth

• This leads to:

  • Less preparation and planning

  • Emergency services are not as well trained

  • A lack of public education regarding what to do to protect themselves and their homes

  • Poor building quality

Economic and social losses in developed countries - UK 

• On the 6th December 2013 Storm 'Xavier' developed off the south-east coast of Greenland

• As the storm moved south-east, it generated a 2m storm surge in the North Sea

• It combined with the spring tide and northerly wind, leading to the worst coastal flooding in the UK since 1953

• There were at least 50 breaches of natural and human built defences around the UK coastline, with the flooding affecting:

  • 1,400 homes and 1,000 businesses 

  • 3,200 hectares of farmland

  • 10,000 people were evacuated

  • Insured losses totalled between 

• It is estimated that 800,000 homes and businesses were protected by flood defences during the event 

Economic and social losses in developing countries - Bangladesh

• Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to coastal flooding because:

  • More than 50% of the land is less than 8 meters above sea level

  • The coastline is over 600km long

  • Tropical cyclones and storms are common

• In 2007 Bangladesh was hit by Cyclone Sidr 

• The accompanying storm surge reached 6m high in some areas

• The social and economic losses were significant and included:

  • Over 3,400 deaths 

  • Over 55,000 injuries 

  • Total economic losses were estimated to be US$2.31 billion

  • Roads, bridges and other infrastructure suffered significant damage

Philippines 

• The Philippines is classified as having a high coastal flood hazard

• Reasons include:

  • The Philippines see an average of 9 tropical cyclones making landfall each year 

  • Because of increased development in coastal areas, high levels of water abstraction has led to subsidence, meaning coastal areas are sinking and are therefore, more vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surges

  • Sea level rise ranges from 5.7-7.0 mm a year

    • This is three times the global average in some areas

• In November 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), made landfall  

• The accompanying storm surge reached 5-6m

• The economic and social impacts were devastating and included;

  • US$13 billion economic losses

  • 1.1 million homes destroyed

  • 4 million people displaced

  • 6201 deaths

  • 28,626 injuries

  • 175,000 acres of farmland worth US$85 million was damaged

  • 130,00 tonnes of rice and between 50,000 - 120,000 tonnes of sugar were lost

Climate Change & Environmental Refugees

• Due to the increased risk of coastal flooding around the world climate change may create environmental refugees in coastal areas

  • An environmental refugee is a person forced to move by environmental changes - in this case coastal flooding

• A study in 2011 suggested that 187 million people could be displaced by sea level rise by 2100

• More recent studies suggest that has increased to 630 million people

• The true numbers are difficult to quantify because of the unknown magnitude and timing of any sea level rise 

• It is the small island nations, that are most at risk from sea level rise

• Low-lying island nations such as Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and the Maldives are particularly vulnerable:

  • In Papua New Guinea and the Maldives between 50-80% of the land is less than 1m above sea level

  • In some areas such as the Seychelles, most of the infrastructure and population (80%) are located on the coast

• The issues they face include:

  • Loss of land and a lack of money for coastal defences

  • Coral reef bleaching which reduces the natural defences against storm surges

  • Salt water incursion which reduces the freshwater supply

  • Loss of tourism 

  • Limited space for relocation - in the Maldives they are building an artificial island (Hulhumale) for relocating some of the population

• Environmental refugees will be a global problem in all countries regardless of levels of development

• In the UK in 2014, residents of the village of Fairbourne in Wales were informed by the local council that flood defences would not be maintained indefinitely

  • From 2054 the village will no longer be habitable and the council plans to 'decommission' the village leaving the 700 residents being described in the media as environmental refugees

• In Bangladesh alone it is estimated that loss of land due to sea level rise and increased coastal erosion could lead to 20 million environmental refugees