Natural and Powerful Coastal Defences Against Climate Change Impacts

Researchers from the University of California Santa Cruz found natural, cost-effective, and powerful solutions to future tropical storms and rising sea levels.

Mangroves and corrals are inexpensive to install compared to the construction of levees or sea walls, yet they can absorb wave energy, reduce wave heights, and offer other environmental benefits.

Mangroves also store more carbon than any other forest ecosystem, which can help mitigate climate change.

These natural infrastructures could protect the 31 million people living in coastal areas worldwide that are considered “highly vulnerable” to coastal threats.

Building a 100-metre-wide coastal strip of mangroves would reduce wave heights by up to two-thirds. Their capacity to reduce wave energy can also significantly reduce erosion and slash the cost of flood damage annually.

The study identified highly vulnerable populations as those living within two miles of the coastline and scoring within the 10th of the study’s vulnerability index, which includes exposure to tropical storms and sea-level rise, dense population, and low-adaptive capacity.

The study refers to low-adaptive capacity as low economic power, education levels, and other factors that make it difficult for a region to adjust to climate variability.

Because of their cost-effectiveness and capacity to buffer against coastal threats, as well as other benefits such as environmental benefits and livelihood protection, mangroves and coral reefs are considered a “win-win solution” for the most vulnerable populations living in coastal regions in Central America, the Caribbean, Eastern Africa, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific region.

Researchers are pushing for conserving and protecting mangroves and coral reefs in these areas.  

Even wealthy nations like the United States can benefit from ecosystem-based adaptation by using mangroves’ capacity to absorb wave energy to reduce the number of vulnerable populations and exposed infrastructure along their coastlines.

To read the entire study, click the link below: