Australian beach systems: Are they at risk from climate change?
Channel: GeoscienceAustralia
Date: 2023-09-01

Australian beaches are a major natural resource with about 11,000 beaches comprising 50% of our open coast.  In March 2023, the International Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Report (IPCC AR 6) placed high confidence in general recession of most Australian beaches by 2100, with other recent publications predicting 50-80 m recession of most Australian beaches by mid-century and by 100 m by 2100.

If this is the case our beaches are at extreme risk, as some have stated, at becoming ‘extinct’, with thousands of beachfront properties also at risk of destruction.  Rather than relying on global modelling, upon which these predictions are made, this talk looks at what has been actually happening around the Australian coast and what is the likely future of our beaches over the coming decades as sea level continues to rise, wave climate changes, extreme storms increase in frequency and tides are modified.

00:00 Introduction
03:14 Seminar