By: ian_erica2003@btinternet.com.qsi

ian_erica2003@btinternet.com.qsi — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 09:36:29 +0000

I would have thought that the most useful data for analysis of future changes in sea level would be based on the tidal gauge records going back over 200 years plus including allowances for glacial isostatic rebound – these are likely to be much better guide to future sea level changes then reliance on climate models that have proved very in accurate in predicting temperature rises as measured by satellite temperature records over the last 45 years recording the lower troposphere temperature changes

By: peter.stilliard@jacobs.com.qsi

peter.stilliard@jacobs.com.qsi — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 07:20:47 +0000

It is good to sea the topic being covered with some good insight to the analysis required when planning this type of work. This is an area I work in as a designer, and I feel it is important to note that the “hard defences” focused on in this article are just one solution and it is important that softer and more natural solutions such as sand dunes, saltmarsh and managed realignment are highlighted as also being viable solutions.
The article also mentions “keep the waves away from people and properties” but I feel we as a sector and society may need to change this attitude of prevention as we deal with increasing risk from climate change. The understandable and human response to flood events is to build or react to avoid the situation happening again, I see this in project objectives frequently such as “protect against a flood of the magnitude of the 2021 event”, and having witnessed the devastating effects upon people’s lives who have suffered from flooding, I empathise strongly with this response. When visiting a city with a long history you can often see plaques marking the high water levels over time and observe how the flood defences have been raised to combat this as an example of this approach.
As we embark on a period in which adaptation to climate change will be critical, we face the challenge of reaching a point at which it will not be feasible or desirable to raise and raise flood defences and we must learn to be adaptable. I now try to steer away from thinking of “flood protection” or “flood defences” but embrace the approach of true flood risk management and designing flood risk management structures to support that. I feel that this is just one aspect of the shift in thinking required regarding all climate change adaptation which is the biggest challenge we have.

Pete, Edinburgh.

Comments on: How engineers use climate data to design coastal flood defences

By: ian_erica2003@btinternet.com.qsi

By: peter.stilliard@jacobs.com.qsi