Issue 9, 2013

Climate change and adaptational impacts in coastal systems: the case of sea defences

Abstract

We briefly review how coastal ecosystems are responding to and being impacted by climate change, one of the greatest challenges facing society today. In adapting to rising and stormier seas associated with climate change, coastal defence structures are proliferating and becoming dominant coastal features, particularly in urbanised areas. Whilst the primary function of these structures is to protect coastal property and infrastructure, they inevitably have a significant secondary impact on the local environment and ecosystems. In this review we outline some of the negative and positive effects of these structures on physical processes, impacts on marine species, and the novel engineering approaches that have been employed to improve the ecological value of these structures in recent years. Finally we outline guidelines for an environmentally sensitive approach to design of such structures in the marine environment.

Graphical abstract: Climate change and adaptational impacts in coastal systems: the case of sea defences

Article information

Article type
Frontier
Submitted
17 Jun 2013
Accepted
16 Jul 2013
First published
16 Jul 2013

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2013,15, 1665-1670

Climate change and adaptational impacts in coastal systems: the case of sea defences

L. B. Firth, N. Mieszkowska, R. C. Thompson and S. J. Hawkins, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2013, 15, 1665 DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00313B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements