Is East Anglia sinking?
The climate crisis has a particular significance for East Anglia. From the Thames estuary to the Humber, the land has been slowly sinking for millennia. Scientists predict that it will sink by 5 centimetres this century, while sea levels rise.
How fast is the Norfolk coast eroding?
2 metres a year
The coastline is eroding at an average of 2 metres a year.
Where is coastal erosion the worst?
The three worst places for coastal erosion are along the Gulf of Mexico. In part, this is because of the flatter topography of the Gulf shoreline. For example, the sand dunes on Florida’s Gulf coast average eight feet, but on the Atlantic coast of Florida, dunes average 15 feet, providing more protection.
Is Suffolk sinking?
The soft sands of the Suffolk coast are famed for disappearing. On Yorkshire’s Holderness coast, one smallholder measured how the sea took 51 metres of land between 1951 and 1998. Over the next five years, after sea defences were reinforced with granite at nearby Withernsea, the smallholder lost another 48 metres.
What did the Fens look like before they were drained?
A long time ago, the fens were watery marshes. They were wild, dangerous places filled with tall grasses and flat wetlands. There were also areas, or islands, of high land in the fens. Ely is sometimes known as The Isle of Ely because it was built on an island of solid ground surrounded by the marsh.
When did Fens last flood?
Things finally got serious when, on January 31, 1953, a North Sea gale flooded drained lands from England to Holland, killing 307 people in the Fens and more than 2,000 in the Netherlands.
Is the Norfolk coastline under threat from erosion?
It is likely that the Norfolk cliffs have been eroding at the present rate for about the last 5000 years, when sea level rose to within a metre or two of its present position (Clayton, 1989).
Does California have erosion?
Cliffs in San Diego are eroding fast. Up and down the California Coast erosion is already taking away our beach sand. Now scientists are predicting that between one-third to two-thirds of the beaches in Southern California will suffer such extreme erosion that they will be completely gone.
Are beaches losing sand?
A new study, published in Nature Climate Change, has reported the world will lose almost half of its valuable sandy beaches by 2100 as the ocean moves landward with rising sea levels. Sandy beaches comprise about a third of the world’s coastline.
How is the erosion of the East Anglian coastline?
In some cases the cliffs have eroded by more than half a mile. Mike Page, 79, created a unique aerial archive showing the alarming erosion of land along the coast of East Anglia from the skies. Pictured is Benacre Pumping Station, Suffolk in 2019 and 2009
How is erosion affecting the beaches in California?
Up and down the California Coast erosion is already taking away our beach sand. Now scientists are predicting that between one-third to two-thirds of the beaches in Southern California will suffer such extreme erosion that they will be completely gone.
Is the North Norfolk coastline susceptible to erosion?
The central part of the North Norfolk coastline is characterised by soft cliffs, fronted by beaches. The whole of the District’s cliffed coastline is thus susceptible to erosion.
What happens to the land during coastal erosion?
Coastal erosion typically results in a landward retreat of the coastline. This can increase the risk of coastal flooding and result in loss of land and damage to buildings, infrastructure and agricultural land. Sudden coastal erosion events, particularly those in the vicinity of coastal cliffs, may directly endanger the lives of people.