Demonstrating the value of beaches for adaptation to future coastal flood risk.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37308502.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-39168-z and PMC identifier 10261140.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Cost-effective coastal flood adaptation requires a realistic valuation of losses, costs and benefits considering the uncertainty of future flood projections and limited resources for adaptation. Here we present an approach to quantify the flood protection benefits of beaches accounting for the dynamic interaction of storm erosion, long-term shoreline evolution and flooding. We apply the method in Narrabeen-Collaroy (Australia) considering uncertainty in different shared socioeconomic pathways, sea-level rise projections, and beach conditions. By 2100, results show that failing to consider erosion can underestimate flood damage by a factor of 2 and maintaining present-day beach width can avoid 785 million AUD worth assets from flood damage. By 2050, the flood protection and recreational benefits of holding the current mean shoreline could be more than 150 times the cost of nourishment. Our results give insight on the benefits of beaches for adaptation and can help accelerate financial instruments for restoration.