Antinuclear

How coastal communities on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula are dealing with the reality of sea level rises,  ABC,  By Nicole Mills, 26 Jul 20, As Vicki Perrett plays with her granddaughter Rachel on the beach in front of her home on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula, she knows she has to cherish these moments.Key points:

• The Victorian Government has instructed all councils to plan for a 0.8m sea-level rise by the year 2100
• The City of Greater Geelong has identified 1,614 properties that will face inundation, and has submitted an overlay to the Planning Minister
• The overlay would require new buildings and renovations to meet certain conditions, such as ensuring floors were above predicted flood levels

And not just because children grow up so fast.

She also knows the beach they play on may not be there forever.

“The beach is coming closer towards us, towards the road and towards our property,” Ms Perrett says.

“It’s very prone to sea level rise here and to storm surges.”

This stretch of coastline at Indented Head has already been earmarked as at risk of going underwater by 2100.

Ms Perrett’s house is also in the danger zone…………

Councils ordered to plan for sea level rises

The Victorian Government has instructed all councils to plan for a 0.8m sea level rise by the year 2100.

That figure is based on a 2007 report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which agreed on the projected rise, but could not rule out larger increases.

Although the worst impacts of sea level rises may still be decades away, this bayside community, about an hour-and-a-half south of Melbourne, has already had a taste of what is to come……….

Dr McInnes leads the CSIRO’s climate extremes and projections group, which has contributed to the mapping of high-risk areas.

Publicly available mapping tools, such as Coastal Risk Australia, allow anyone to find out how their local area would fare under different sea-level rise scenarios.

Dr McInnes said it was important for local communities to know whether they were at risk so they could decide whether to invest in adaptation strategies, such as infrastructure, to protect the coastline, or simply retreat from the danger zone.

“Land subject to inundation is land that is low-lying, that is potentially at risk from inundation during extreme sea-level events or even potentially high-tide events in the future,” Dr McInnes said.

Dr McInnes says while the worst impacts will be felt during storm surges, there might be some areas that will suffer more permanent flooding.

“If [the land] is low enough, it could be permanently inundated,” she said.

“Parts of Swan Bay [on the Bellarine Peninsula] could potentially become quite affected by inundation, certainly high-tide inundation, in the future.”

And it’s not just regional areas.

Dr McInnes says Melbourne suburbs such as Elwood, Aspendale and Mordialloc are also at risk of more-regular flooding in future……….. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-26/climate-change-sea-level-rises-prompt-action-in-coastal-towns/12383968