Half the World’s Beaches Could Vanish Because of Climate Change
- In worst case, world may lose half its beaches by 2100
- Mitigating emissions would reduce losses, says study
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The world may lose almost half of its sandy beaches by the end of the century if climate change isn’t kept in check.
That’s assuming a 4 degree Celsius (7.2 Fahrenheit) increase in temperatures from pre-industrial levels by 2100 that would raise sea levels, leading to erosion and increased coastal flooding, the University of New South Wales said Wednesday, citing a study in Nature Climate Change. If temperature increases were limited to 2.5 degrees, beach erosion would fall about a third from the worst-case scenario.