Will the Kent coast always look like it does now? Unlikely. By 2100 is estimated that sea level changes wrought by climate change will have altered the map and we could find ourselves with a county that looks very different to the one we know and love today

Whether an act of humility or egotistical mania, King Canute’s tidal antics in the 11th century confirmed that the sea does what it wants. We’ve come a long way since, developing more sophisticated ways of thwarting the sea other than a pair of kingly ankles.

Around the county, coastal communities enjoy protection via a network of flood defences. They ensure that, even when the sea is at its bolshiest, those at risk from flooding (10 per cent of Kent’s population), can sleep safe in the knowledge that they won’t end up sharing more in common with Atlantis than Ashford. (more…)

Thousands of holiday homes and caravans could have to be abandoned unless millions can be found to shore up West Norfolk’s sea defences.

Options for managing flood risk along the shores of The Wash were yesterday revealed by the Environment Agency.

They ranged from holding the line until 2025, followed by a managed retreat in some areas; to holding the line until the year 2105, at an estimated cost of £45m. (more…)

Coastal rubbish tips that long since covered over and abandoned could cause a fresh headache as erosion threatens to open them up and wash the waste into the sea.

Predicted impacts of climate change resulting in changing weather patterns and sea level rise put an ever-increasing pressure on the UK coastline to support flood and erosion management.

This possible increased level of coastal erosion places risk of wash-out of potential hazardous waste from former industrial and domestic landfill sites situated along the coastline in the UK. (more…)

From a press release from North Norfolk District Council:

North Norfolk District Council is answering the Government’s call for ‘pathfinder’ bids for a share of £11 million designated to help coastal communities adapt to coastal change.

NNDC has been at the forefront of lobbying and policy-making on coastal adaptation, through national working groups comprising national Government departments and agencies alongside local councils, and, as a result, the Government is developing a Coastal Change Policy for England — supported by the £11 million fund for innovative adaptation projects. (more…)

BOURNEMOUTH’S Hengistbury Head heritage site will continue to erode and eventually disappear if nothing is done to protect it, a report has predicted.

Part, if not all, of the Site of Scientific Interest could be lost over the next 100 to 200 years as nature takes its toll on the coastline.

The report commissioned by Bournemouth Borough Council is part of their Shoreline Management Plan and looks at whether they should be protecting the coastline in the short term. (more…)

FOR years it has stood as an evocative reminder of the days when Yorkshire’s East Coast faced up to German aggression. But now the East Coast landmark looks set to fall victim to a far more insidious opponent – coastal erosion. [watch video]

The artillery battery that sits on the clifftops near Aldbrough was more than 300ft from the edge when it was built in 1943 to stop shells being fired from enemy ships at Hull.

But by 2000, as the images show, the heavily reinforced gun  emplacements had collapsed into the sea, leaving the tunnels used to carry the shells hanging over the edge. (more…)