Tuesday, 4 January 2022

The Shape of Things to Come?

Coastal erosion is currently rampant in parts of England. Marked coastal erosion is evident in North Norfolk; the entire Lincolnshire coast; much of Cambridgeshire; parts of East Yorkshire; Merseyside and the Bristol area. It has been estimated that 100,000 homes at imminent risk of falling into the seas (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/01/sands-slip-england-crumbling-coasts-erosion-rising-sea-levels). England's coastal erosion is a consequence of rising sea levels. Sea levels have been rising since the last Ice Age (20,000 years ago). The rate of the rise is, however, currently accelerating. This rise will continue, even if 'moderate' (whatever they are?) attempts are made to combat climate change. More worrying is the prediction, that the enormous ice-shelf of Antarctica's Thwaites glacier, may fracture in the next 20 years. If it does, sea level will rapidly climb by another 60 cm. This would dramatically alter the entire shape of England (and of many other world locations).

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