Parts of Sussex on list of places that could be lost to sea by 2050 due to climate change

The Coastal Risk Screening Tool by Climate Central shows the towns near the seaside that may need to be abandoned by 2050 because of global warming and coastal erosion.

The areas that are at risk are: Bognor Regis, Shoreham-by-sea, Pevensey Bay, Camber, Fairbourne (Wales), Sunderland Tyne and Wear, Filey in Yorkshire, Withernsea in Yorkshire, Kessingland in Suffolk and Happisburgh in Norfolk.

The Daily Mail has reported: “Sea levels around Britain have risen by 6 inches (15.4cm) since 1900, and the Met Office predicts modern levels could increase a further 3.7ft (1.12m) by 2100, threatening communities on sea cliffs and coastal floodplains around much of the east and south coast of England.” It added that Climate Central’s maps are based on peer-reviewed science.

Environment Agency chief executive Sir James Bevan previously said in a speech at the Flood & Coast Conference 2022: “As a country we already face major challenges from the more violent weather, which our changing climate is causing. More frequent and more extreme flooding and storm surges are becoming the new normal and are already posing greater risks to lives, infrastructure and property.”

He said: “The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change predicts that a global sea level rise of 2 metres by 2100 cannot be ruled out. Imagine that, and remember as you do that most communities in Britain are sited at or near our current sea level.”

He added: “In the long term, climate change means that some of our communities – both in this country and around the world – cannot stay where they are.”

Camber is the seventh most at risk area from coastal erosion by 2040, according to figures published in 2019, which were based on data collected by the Environmental Agency’s National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping project.

People can use the interactive Climate Central map for themselves at coastal.climatecentral.org.

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